Phineas and Ferb: The Fall and the Rise
by storyman123123
Summary: When one of Phineas and Ferb's inventions go horribly wrong, they are branded murderers and disowned by their family, their friends, and their city. However, one person still believes in them: Isabella. As they embark on a clandestine journey through Danville, Phineas, Ferb, and Isabella fight their fatal flaws and attempt to clear their name before it's too late. Please review!
1. Prologue

**A/N: **Hey guys, storyman123123 here. It's finally here: my second Phineas and Ferb story.

A couple quick notes: First off, the boys (and everyone in the story, I guess) are a bit older now. PLEASE KEEP THIS IN MIND. I imagine them to be around 14 years old, just because I'm not sure if 11-year-old Phineas and Ferb (or however old they are right now in the canon episodes) can emotionally take what happens in this story.

Which brings me to my second point: this story is much more "real," in that though it still has the traditional cool stuff the brothers build and figure out, I paint out Danville and its characters as more true-to-life and with real-life problems. So the tone is obviously darker (though it will have occasional situational humor); be warned.

Finally, this is not set in the same universe as "Where does it all go?". It is a completely different universe. Phineas and Ferb don't know about Perry (yet?); Isabella and Phineas are not a couple; and Doof never made that crazy mind-control device. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go check out the story. (Insert shameless plug here)

So without further ado, here is the story! Please enjoy. I think I thought this one out pretty well. And yes, everything will be explained to make sense. Eventually. Hopefully.

Disclaimer: I do not own Phineas and Ferb, nor do I own any of the characters from the show.

* * *

"How did we end up here, Ferb?" asked Phineas.

Ferb scratched his head. Or, he would have, if his wrists were not handcuffed behind his back, his arms tied with chains to a cement pillar behind him, and his mouth gagged. Phineas, sitting next to him, was similarly restrained, minus the cloth gag. Ironically, they had stuffed the cloth into _his _mouth to silence him, not Phineas. For some reason, they thought he looked "talkative."

So in response, he simply shrugged.

"And I don't mean here, in this place specifically," continued Phineas as he stared around him at the small, dimly-lit room, the dank, grimy walls, and the locked cement door. "I mean in this situation." His eyes finally rested on the menacing black sphere in front of him and his brother. A red digital display counted down, emitting a small beep with the passing of every second.

Shuddering as he struggled to accept the existence of the bomb ticking down in front of him, he asked, "Why did they do this to us?"

The hurt and confusion in his voice was almost too much for Ferb to bear. He wanted to say something, but the cloth gag prevented him from comforting his brother.

Their eyes traveled to the screen above the bomb, broadcasting a ceremony at City Hall. Thousands of people thronged on the streets; it seemed like all of Danville was there. Standing at the podium was Mayor Roger Doofenshmirtz. Situated below him, in handcuffs and surrounded by security personnel, were… Phineas and Ferb.

"…would have sent you to jail on multiple accounts of attempted murder, the subsequent cover-up, and trespassing," said Mayor Doofenshmirtz. "However, due to the gracious and persistent influence of Thaddeus and Thor, we have decided to reduce your punishment to a public exile from Danville by foot."

The mayor wiped his eyes briefly. The next words were obviously not easy for him to say.

"Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher," he said, his voice cracking with emotion, "on behalf of everyone who has been touched by the joy that your inventions once brought to this great community, I deeply regret this good-bye. I myself have known… had known you to be bright, upstanding, and good kids, on the path to change our world for the better. Instead, you have changed our world, but for the worse. You have brought shame to your family, to your friends, to me personally, and to all residents of this city. And for that, I must exile you from Danville."

He sucked in a breath as though to say more, but shook his head and instead tapped the boys on the back and turned away. The security personnel led the boys down the stairs.

"What did we do wrong?" the Phineas in the bomb room asked.

Ferb froze at his words.

The bomb beeped and beeped and beeped.


	2. Last-minute Anticipations

**A/N: **Heyo readers. For some reason I feel really committed to writing this story, because I feel like there's a lot of depth that I can explore with the storyline. So I will do my best to update frequently - even if at the expense of other literary projects. Enjoy and review!

**_Approximately one month earlier…_**

Isabella yawned as she stretched in front of the mirror. She regarded at her long black hair disdainfully; now shiny and straight, she knew that once she woke up in the morning, the hair would be a fuzzy mess of tangles. She sighed and looked at her watch. _10:59, _it read. She regarded the rest of herself disdainfully as well. Today marked what probably was the millionth time Phineas had failed to see her as something more than a friend, at least in a romantic way.

She gave herself a sad smile. Six years. She knew she would have to move on if something didn't change, but she couldn't bring herself to move past him. He was just so _perfect _– he was funny, he was incredibly smart, he could and would turn anyone's bad day into a good one – and never turned anyone's good day into a bad one. Even when she failed to get him to notice her, she would always still be drawn into his good-natured charm. Why wouldn't he notice her? And his eyes. His eyes were so…

She mentally slapped herself. _Stop it,_ she scolded. _Wishful thinking isn't going to help._

The doorbell rang. "Isa, can you get it?" called her mother Vivian from the next room.

"Sure thing, Mom," replied Isabella, heading down the stairs to greet the late-night guest. _I wonder who it could be._

But when she opened the door, there was no one there. "Hello?" she called out into the darkness, broken only by a streetlamp at the end of the street. Then she noticed a figure dart underneath the lamp. Squinting to see the figure disappear into the darkness, she couldn't make out any specific features, but one thing was for sure: the mystery person had a triangle-shaped head.

She sucked in a breath. What was Phineas doing out so late? Had he just gone so low to ring her doorbell as a prank? _Maybe he isn't so perfect after all,_ she joked to herself as she turned inside to close the door. And why was he heading away from his house? That was when she noticed the letter laying on the doormat.

She sucked in a breath and, gingerly picking it up, looked at the backside. _To Isabella _was scrawled on the envelope. She knew that messy but striking handwriting anywhere.

Immediately she forgot her earlier questions. She relented to the impatient impulse inside her heart, quickly picked up the letter and ripped it open right on her porch.

_Dearest Isabella,_ it read. She almost swooned reading the first two words.

_I know it has been a long time coming, but I think I've finally figured it out. I hope you can forgive the past several years; I'm sorry it took so long._

_I have something special to show you tomorrow. I hope you'll come over to see it. I promise it'll blow you away, and I promise to never ignore or lie to you in that way ever again._

_With love from your favorite inventor,_

_P_

She blinked. She swore she saw a T at first – Phineas' messy script had caused confusions before, and she usually had to use context to decipher his writing. But her initial confusion was replaced by a flood of joy, excitement, exasperation, fear, and every other emotion left to feel.

She reread the letter, then read it again. And again. And with each read, her heart swelled with more and more happiness until she thought she might explode. _Tomorrow's the day! He gets it! It's finally happening! _she mentally squealed. Granted, it took a couple more years than she hoped it would – but better late than never. Much better late than never.

"Who is it, Isa?" her mother called.

"No one!" she called back, but she was unable to contain the bliss in her voice.

"Sure doesn't sound like it," her mother responded jokingly as she came back down the steps. "A letter? Who is it from?"

Isabella's silly grin told her mother everything she needed to know. She chuckled as Isabella, clutching the letter, slammed the front door and dashed back up the stairs.

"Try to get some sleep, _mi hija,_" she called up the stairs. "You might miss the Founding of Danville's 200th Anniversary Show tomorrow!"

"Mom!" Isabella replied, rolling her eyes.

"And you have to be rested for Phineas too, I guess," Vivian joked as Isabella entered her room to escape her mother's incessant teasing. After flopping down onto her bed, she set out to reread the letter again while simultaneously counting down the seconds to tomorrow. It was going to be a long night.

She couldn't take it. Grabbing her cell phone, she quickly sent Adyson and Gretchen a text. _Girls, you won't believe what just happened…_

* * *

"This better be good, 'Jeet, or else I will personally come over to your house and smack you," a sleepy Buford drawled into his phone's receiver.

"You're already asleep?"

"You wanted to find out whether or not I was sleeping. That is the sole reason this call exists."

"No, no! I was just a little shocked, is all. It is only eleven-sixteen."

"Why are you calling."

"I just wanted to ask you if you could be sure to videochat me once the Show tomorrow gets underway. I'm going to be out of town – Tjinders are having a family gathering out in Vegas. I am so bummed!"

"You're bummed that you have to go to Vegas? Are you kidding me?!" Buford was definitely awake now.

"Buford, I can't even do anything there. I am fourteen."

"But it's Vegas—"

"Just be sure to videochat me tomorrow at eleven A.M. Okay?"

"Okay, okay. Won't forget."

"I'll let you get back to sleeping," Baljeet said skeptically as he hung up. Buford fell back on his mattress. _'Jeet's a weird kid_, he thought, shaking his head.

* * *

"Do you believe in fate, Stace?" Candace asked her best friend. Sitting cross-legged on her chair, she resembled a baby, so Stacy was having a hard time addressing her in a serious manner.

"Even if I did, what would it matter," Stacy responded, trying not to laugh.

"Stacy, this is serious! So whatever happens tomorrow at the Founding of Danville's 200th Anniversary Show is something that was set in motion millions of years ago and can't be stopped?"

"Candace, if this is more of that crazy talk about the 'Mysterious Force' again…" Stacy leaned over, signaling that she would shut off her computer.

"All I'm saying, Stace, is that I feel like tomorrow's show might not be such a hot idea," said Candace, hesitantly looking at Stacy's window on her computer. Though the video image was pixelated due to spotty Internet connection, she could still make the incredulity on her friend's face.

"And why would tomorrow 'not be such a hot idea?'" asked Stacy skeptically, gesturing Candace's words with air quotations.

"I don't know! Look, of course we'll go anyway. I'm just saying that I'm getting a weird feeling."

"You better not tell your brothers. They are the ones who upgraded the Founding Anniversary's Show this year."

"I know, I know, and that's what I feel so weird!" Candace emphatically stated. "But I just get the weird feeling that we gotta be careful tomorrow."

"I think I know what it is," said Stacy, biting her finger. "You're feeling weird because… you can't bust Phineas and Ferb for their invention tomorrow, because they're building it for the Show." Candace realized that Stacy was biting her finger in order not to burst into laughter.

"Hilarious," she muttered.

"Just like that time you almost went insane because your mom let them take over the laser lights show."

"You should really go into stand-up comedy, Stace."

"It's probably true, and you know it."

"Yeah, you're right," Candace sighed. "It's probably nothing."

She glanced at the time. _11:31._ It was getting a little late. "Gotta go, Stace. See ya tomorrow at the park."

"See ya! And don't sweat so much over the whole thing – it'll be fine. It's your brothers we're talking about, after all," Stacy smiled. She waved goodbye, then ended the videochat.

_She's right, _Candace said to herself as she slipped on her nightclothes. _It's nothing._

_Then why do I feel like something bad will happen tomorrow… and somehow it's going to be my fault?_

* * *

Meanwhile, Phineas and Ferb were doing last-minute preparations for the big Show tomorrow in the room next door to Candace's.

"Alright bro, we should probably get some sleep," Phineas said as he yawned. He looked as his watch's glowing screen display _11:46._ "Dude! It's almost midnight! We really need to catch some Z's."

Ferb blinked, then nodded. Now that he was older, he had grown out of his phase of rarely saying anything. He was still a man of few words – hence his tendency to use gestures frequently – but he no longer abhorred speaking.

"By the way, where were you about an hour ago?" he asked quietly.

"Out," was Phineas' simply reply. He pulled on his pajamas to see Ferb staring at him. "What?"

"Seriously? 'Out?'" asked Ferb. "That's all you're going to give me."

"Well, yeah. I went by the park to do a final test," said Phineas nonchalantly, holding up a small metal tube with a glowing button on each end. "Teleported there with this bad boy. Remember it?"

"You could have just checked over the plans from here," Ferb pointed out.

"You know me – more hands-on kinda guy," said Phineas, grinning.

"Actually, that would be me."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, I do most of the building." Ferb was grinning too at this point.

"You do not!"

Ferb silently counted down with his fingers as he waited for Phineas to realize the truth. _3…2…1…_

"Okay, okay. You do. But trust me – just making sure everything works. I just hope nothing goes wrong."

"Nothing will go wrong," said Ferb, putting a hand on Phineas' shoulder. "Nothing ever goes wrong, when it comes to us. Now, let's take your advice and get some sleep."

They both flopped onto their respective beds, and were soon out cold.


	3. The Descent

**A/N:** Ready for a wild ride?

On a side note, thanks to all who read and/or reviewed the first two chapters! They really encourage me to write more.

Now, brace yourselves!

* * *

"Look at the size of this crowd! Consecrated guacamole!" Phineas crowed to his brother as they surveyed the citizens of Danville quickly trickle into the park to partake in the Founding of Danville's 200th Anniversary Show. The people mingled in groups of twos and sevens, and everything in between, as they perused the many stands and tents set up, sampled fresh fruits and fried confections, and watched street performers.

Ferb showed Phineas his tablet (upgraded, of course, by the brothers) to show the time. _10:18. _"And it isn't even close to 11 AM yet! This is gonna be the best day ever!" He high-fived his brother.

"Let's just make sure all the relays are intact, okay Phin?" Ferb suggested. "It would be less than stellar if we turn the holograms on and half the settlers don't even show up to battle. Downright excruciating, if you ask me."

"Chatty today, aren't we," joked Phineas, punching his brother's shoulder. Ferb rolled his eyes.

"Okay, okay. You check those relays over there, and I'll cover this battle site, okay?" he relented. "Make sure all them darn frontiersmen ain't actin' up."

"Please – you can't pull off street language," Ferb said with a smirk as he jogged over to the micro-projectors strategically placed around the park.

"I'm getting better!" Phineas called back, also going over to check his projectors.

* * *

"Hey, Phineas, whatcha do…" Isabella began as she entered the empty backyard.

"Hello? Phineas? Ferb?" she called to no one in particular. She sighed. She had partially hoped that Phineas would show whatever he had planned for her before they left for the Anniversary, partially because she was a little nervous of being under the spotlight of attention from all the people that would be there and partially because she wanted to be able to attend the Anniversary as someone in a relationship, and… yes, even show off a little bit. She had no doubt Phineas would ask her out eventually today, but was looking forward to showing up to the Show with that official status of having a boyfriend.

Ah well. _Change of plans_, she thought, but smiled resiliently. _But no biggie. I'm sure Phineas would love to have all those people present when it finally happens…_

* * *

_ Earlier that morning…_

"Ah, Perry the Platypus! You're just in time… to be trapped!" Heinz Doofenshmirtz cackled as he pressed a button on a panel. Immediately, Perry was grabbed by a mechanical arm, dunked into sugar, tossed into a cotton candy machine, and came out looking like he was stuck in a big pink cloud.

"Trapped by cotton candy. Add that one to your bucket list, am I right?" Doof grinned, nudging Perry with his elbow. He took a pinch of the cotton candy and ate it. "Strawberry! My favorite. Though a bit sticky for my taste.

"Anyway, you're probably wondering about the 1800's frontiersman costume that I'm currently wearing! Actually," he sighed, suddenly deflating, "you probably couldn't care less. Who knows what goes on inside there… in your little platypus head. And brain."

Perry rolled his eyes.

"Wow, I just got in such a funk. Where was I? …right. As you know, Perry the Platypus, today is the Founding of Danville's 200th Anniversary. Every year, they put on a show of the deciding battle that resulted in the actual beginning of the Foundation of Danville. But this year, it's gonna be different!" He flaunted a new -Inator – a small, ray-gun-like machine with a smooth, black barrel and body. "Behold! My Fall-Down-Inator!"

Doof danced. "Dun dun dun!" he sang. Perry rolled his eyes again.

"Anyway, there's a special rule in Danville regarding the Anniversary: if the Mayor of Danville fails to remain standing throughout the entirety of the performance featuring the deciding Battle of Danville, he must step down as mayor!

"Frankly, I have no idea why they put that rule in place," he mused on an afterthought. "I mean, what if he gets tired? Or has to… you know, go number two?" He looked as Perry's wince. "TMI? TMI. But anyway, I plan to shoot my brother Roger with this bad boy during the performance; down he goes, and I'll just waltz in and take over the Tri-State Area! Boo-yah!" Doof cackled as he procured a jetpack and blasted off towards the Park.

"Who knows; maybe if it's funny enough, I'll just make random people in the crowd fall down too!" Doof added as he disappeared out of sight.

Perry immediately fought to free himself and stop Doof. But the cotton candy really was very sticky…

* * *

"No can bust. No have fun." Candace stared off into empty space blankly, repeating the chant.

"Oh boy, here we go again," Stacy said exasperatedly. "Here, let's get closer to the performance area! C'mon, kiddo."

"No can bust. No have fun," Candace repeated as Stacy dragged her towards the center of the Park.

* * *

_Later that morning..._

"Alright bro, it's starting, it's starting!" Phineas whispered excitedly as the Mayor stepped up onto a podium.

"I'm not blind," Ferb noted drily.

"Don't ruin the epic moment of glory with your sarcasm, okay?" Phineas joked. "We're almost on. Got the main control for the holographic battle?"

Before Ferb could reply with a thumbs-up, he was almost knocked over by an overexcited Isabella barreling towards Phineas.

"Hey Phineas! Whatcha doin'?" she said, the words tumbling out in a rush. She looked around eagerly. "So! Where is it? Oh, you have no idea how long I've been waiting for this moment, Phineas!" Impatient, she leaned in and clasped his shoulders

"Isabella! Hey! You're just in time to see… us unveil the holographic performance of the Battle of Danville we're putting on!" Phineas said while grinning.

Isabella let go of his shoulders and reeled back. Right away, Phineas knew from her fallen face that he had said something wrong. "What?" he asked, confused.

"But… the letter…?" she mumbled, staring blankly at her crush.

"Ooh! That reminds me!" Phineas cried. He took out a tablet and punched in a couple more items. "I knew I was forgetting a letter in the code! Thanks for reminding me, Isabella. You're the best friend a guy could ever have."

"But… the letter y-you wrote?" Isabella stammered. Words, feelings, gibberish banged around the inside of her head, but the message in her heart was clear and true. _This isn't happening. This is not happening. Not again._

"Well, yeah! I wrote tons of letters in the code! But Ferb wrote most of it." Phineas looked over at Ferb, who pointed at the Mayor. Phineas nodded. "Sorry, Isabella – gotta go. Show's starting! You're gonna love it!" he called as the brothers ran off.

Isabella stared at the two, frozen for a few heartbeats. Then she gingerly took out the letter from the previous night and reread it once more. She stood rooted to the spot while a single tear ran down her cheek and smudged the "P" into a messy blob of a "T."

"But… you promised," she almost sobbed.

* * *

Amidst a smatter of applause, Roger Doofenshmirtz the Mayor held out his hand to the circle of people surrounding the center of the Park and began to speak. "Citizens of Danville, it is my great honor to welcome you to the 200th Anniversary of the Founding of Danville. As you know, Danville was…" He stopped abruptly. "Oh, this is just too boring. If only there were a way to kick this retelling up a notch…"

On cue, a platform carried Phineas and Ferb dramatically into the sky, accompanied by a cloaked object the size of a bass guitar amplifier.

"We think we can help with that, sir!" Phineas called. With a flourish, he uncovered the object to reveal a metallic panel. Ferb, dignified as usual, pressed a blue button on the panel.

Immediately, the Park sprang to life as hundreds of holographic people, horses, and buildings appeared out of nowhere. Even a holographic steppe climate was produced. The crowd oohed and ahhed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy… the Battle of Danville!" Phineas cried triumphantly.

The battle commenced immediately. Incoming settlers in big old-timey wagons brandished guns to clash with the frontiersmen. Yelling, they were locked in combat, the sounds of scuffles and gunshots rocketing through the air.

The battle was clearly a draw, but the most exciting battle stalemate ever depicted in the history of holographic battles. As the fight wound down and the (fake) settlers and frontiersmen realized the futility of the battle, Phineas noticed something amiss with one of the settlers. "Ferb, do you notice that guy?" asked Phineas, pointing at one of the holograms near the mayor's podium. "I don't remember him from our blueprints. Do you?"

Ferb shushed him. "This is my favorite part, Phineas. The two sides about to reconcile, and create the Constitution of Danville!" he whispered.

"Just look over where I'm pointing, okay?" Phineas said, a note of concern in his voice. Ferb squinted, then stopped breathing. "He's… he's turning towards the mayor."

"He's what?" Phineas quickly whipped out a pair of binoculars and focused on the settler.

The settler had a malicious smile on his face as he slowly drew a pistol from a pouch. He aimed it towards the mayor.

"It's just for show and entertainment, him breaking the fourth wall of the scene, right?" Phineas asked worriedly. "We programmed that, right? No one's getting hurt?"

"Nothing can go wrong," Ferb repeated.

Those were the last words spoken between the brothers before all hell broke loose.

The settler pushed a button on the gun (was he removing a safety?) and shot the mayor through the neck.

Only the few officials next to the mayor comprehended the shot to be most definitely real, but baffled screams still erupted from the crowd when people saw Roger Doofenshmirtz stagger back. The dull thud of the mayor on the grass was audible for miles. Blood pooled on the grass, and as it congealed in a dark red glob, a few people retched, sick from the sight of the downed mayor. Many others ran around in a panic, yelling incoherent outcries. Yet many people a farther distance away from the scene of the diabolical shot did not realize the true peril of the situation. But Phineas and Ferb did.

"Something went wrong!" Phineas gasped, horrified. "The bullets… they're real?"

"Turn off the hologram!" Ferb roared.

Phineas stared at him in horror, partially because of the sight of the bleeding, unconscious mayor and partially because of Ferb's unprecedented rage. He had never yelled before. Ever.

"Turn it off!" Ferb repeated, almost yelling at the top of his lungs. "NOW!"

Phineas hurriedly turned off the machine, and the park returned to normal. The crowd was now divided in half – those who eyed the brothers in confusion at the break in the most important part of the ceremony, and those who eyed the brothers with shock at letting something as horrific as the mayor getting shot happen. After swiftly and cautiously checking all the wires on the computer chip of the machine, Ferb warily pushed the blue button again.

The holographic scene roared to life once more, as well as the mysterious settler, who was now laughing gleefully and pointing the gun into the crowd. He fired several times before Phineas could break out of his disbelief and punch the blue button. Immediately, everything ceased to exist – but the grim aftermath and the chaos remained.

"Ferb, we gotta get down there – Ferb?" Phineas stared at his brother, who was truly frozen in shock. "Ferb! Stay with me, bro! People need our help!"

"It… it went wrong," Ferb muttered to himself. "The invention. It went wrong."

"Yes! But we gotta get down there!" Phineas shook his brother by the shoulders. Almost lazily, Ferb reached into his pocket and pressed a remote control. With a shudder, as though expressing its revulsion at the sight of multiple bloody people lying unconscious while everyone else screamed or yelled in panic, the platform approached the ground.

* * *

_A few seconds earlier…_

"I told you, I told you, here I am, sorry I'm late – haha, the mayor just slipped on his back," Buford laughed, ignoring the screams erupting around him.

"Buford, are those… people screaming?" Baljeet peered through the webcam.

"Ah, you know. People just get excited. Let's see what it's all about," said Buford, quickly shoving his way to the front, ending up next to the Fireside Girls. "Oh hey Adyson. 'Sup girls, say hi Baljeet. What's going on—"

Suddenly, the holographic scene roared to life once more, as well as the mysterious settler, who was now laughing gleefully and pointing the gun into the crowd. He fired several times. A bullet whizzed through the air. Buford felt his phone explode, the metal shards stinging his face. He looked around wildly. Next to him, he saw Adyson's face go pale, before her eyes rolled up into head and she collapsed into the grass. In his peripheral vision, he saw Gretchen on the ground, unconscious. Dimly aware of the other Fireside Girls screaming, he felt helpless except to yell, "Adyson!" over and over again.

* * *

_A few seconds earlier…_

Candace saw the Mayor fall backwards. She was one of the very few in the crowd who sensed the danger. "Stacy! We gotta go help the mayor! Now!" she ordered, pulling Stacy to the edge of the crowd. The simulation of the Battle disappeared.

As soon as she broke free of the undulating barrier of people and faced the open field, however, the holographic scene roared to life once more, as well as the mysterious settler, who was now laughing gleefully and pointing the gun into the crowd. He fired several times. Candace had no time to move to cover. One of the bullets found their mark. Suddenly, a red hole appeared in Candace's side. She silently looked down at her torso as the holograms dissipated. With a slight exhale of air, she crumpled backwards into the grass.

"Candace? CANDACE!" Stacy screamed.


	4. The Fall

**A/N: **Hey guys. No particular notes here, except to say enjoy, if you can.

* * *

When Phineas and Ferb reached ground level, the scene unfolding before them seemed akin to a warzone.

Dozens of people were on cell phones, barking orders or crying for their loved ones. The bodies of Roger Doofenshmirtz, Adyson, Gretchen, Candace, and a handful of other people still lay where they were shot, while crowds of people foamed around them, surging back and forth between the victims, unsure of what to do.

The one exception being when he stranded his friends on the island and thought he would never return home – when everything was on the line and he thought he had almost lost summer – Phineas usually remained calm during setbacks. So he was surprised when he found himself almost completely inundated by a huge wave of guilt, sickness, and fear after he saw Vivian Garcia-Shaprio worriedly dashing and remembered that Isabella was present at the shooting scene too. He was surprised that a concern for one person, even one as important as Isabella, his best friend and constant supporter, could make him feel so helpless.

"We gotta find Isabella, Ferb!" he yelled, grabbing Ferb's arm.

"No, we have to find Candace!" Ferb countered harshly. He shook his arm free.

"Please listen to me, Ferb," Phineas begged. "Just thirty seconds. Okay? I don't know how and I don't know why, but I feel like I need, really need, to make sure she is okay."

Ferb glanced at his brother's face sick with worry, and an understanding seemed to dawn in Ferb's eyes. "Okay," he relented. "Let's go."

Phineas instantly took off, yelling "Isabella? Isabella!" into the crowd, promptly losing Ferb anyway. He scanned the ground as his head filled with a buzzing sensation with the fear of what he might find – a girl's motionless body with a cute, pink bow tucked into her hair…

So busy was he looking at the ground that he didn't see clearly in front of him as he ran through the mass of people. He fulfilled the imminent collision waiting to happen, and knocked over none other than Isabella herself. Tumbling into her, he nevertheless caught himself and hugged her as hard as he could. He was shocked again that he felt tears trickling down his face. _Why am I crying? _he thought.

"Isabella, oh god, am I glad you're alive," he breathed, holding her tight.

For a few moments, they stood like that. He felt her rest her head tenderly against his shoulder for a heartbeat. Suddenly, she pushed out of his embrace and, glaring at him, swiftly walked away. Phineas noticed that her eyes were red from crying too, and her desperate, sad look and abrupt dismissal created another different kind of sick feeling inside of him. But spotting Ferb not too far away, he pushed the observation aside. He had confirmed she was alive; he would talk to her later. Right now, he had bigger things to deal with.

"Seriously?! Has no one even called for an ambulance yet?" Phineas yelled towards his brother.

"A handful of people called 9-1-1 a few moments ago, son," a short man kindly told the boys as he knelt sorrowfully next to the Mayor's motionless body, trying to stop blood loss with a sleeve torn from his cotton shirt. His eyes narrowed with undisputable disgust, though, when he noticed whom he was addressing. "You're the boys who built this damn thing that shot all those people, aren't you?" he almost snarled.

Ferb stopped to argue that no, they could not turn light projections into real bullets, but Phineas wasn't paying any attention to either of them, as he caught sight of Candace a few yards, wan with blood loss.

"Candace!" he let out in a bloodcurdling scream. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. What have we done?"

"Phineas! Ferb! Are you boys alright?" Linda Flynn-Fletcher sobbed as she applied pressure to Candace's stomach. "Where's your dad? He was getting something from the car when… this… Have you seen your dad? Is he injured too?! Oh my goodness—"

"Linda, I just got your call, what's going on—" Lawrence Flynn-Fletcher caught sight of his stepdaughter's still body. "C-Candace?" he sputtered. "What…w-what…"

"She was one of the last ones to get shot," Linda cried.

"We gotta get her to a hospital," Phineas demanded. "Now." He pulled out his teleportation device.

"Ferb! I thought you said that this show was completely safe!" Lawrence shouted at his son.

"Wait. Phineas, what's that?" Linda asked, pointing at Phineas' device.

"It's a teleporter," Phineas said nonchalantly, pressing the glowing buttons. "Just a few more seconds to let it warm up, and then—"

"It's a what?!" Linda almost shrieked.

"I didn't mean for this to happen!" Ferb cried.

"Stop joking around, Phineas!" Linda shouted.

"But it did! And now my daughter could be dead…" Lawrence grieved, gazing with unfocused eyes at Candace.

"I'm not joking!" Phineas replied, his voice rising. "Why would I joke when something like this happened?"

"The ambulance isn't getting here fast enough," said Ferb as he kneeled next to Linda. He checked Candace's pulse. "She's losing her grip."

"A teleporter. A teleporter?!" Linda was getting hysterical. "But… that's dangerous! That's _incredibly _dangerous!"

"Oh, let him use the bloody teleportation device!" Lawrence bellowed. "They've used it before."

"Wait, Lawrence! You knew about this thing they built?" Linda asked in shock.

"Get away from her, Ferb!" Lawrence shouted again, ignoring his wife's question as he waved his hands at Ferb threateningly. "She doesn't need her killer smothering her."

"I am not a killer, let alone her killer!" Ferb yelled, enraged.

"Mom! It's okay! The molecules rearrange correctly with a 99.999% probability! It's foolproof," Phineas tried to reassure his mother, who was stupefied with horror by Phineas' explanation.

"This was your fault!" Lawrence was now standing nose to nose with Ferb as they screamed at each other.

"Plus, this isn't nearly as dangerous as all the other stuff we've invented before," Phineas continued. "Hey, it's ready! We gotta go—"

"Give me that!" Linda snatched the teleporter from Phineas' grasp.

"It wasn't my fault! I swear, I didn't do anything wrong!" Ferb yelled angrily, but there were tears in his eyes.

"Hey! Mom, what're you doing? Candace needs that!" Phineas tried to wrestle it from his mom's iron fist.

"Phineas, I am so disappointed in you! I've told you time and time again to be safe this summer, and now you might have killed people and want to scramble my daughter's molecules? Are you insane?" Linda berated Phineas harshly.

"You shot my daughter!" Lawrence cried wildly at Ferb. "Your invention shot your own sister! EVERYTHING is wrong about that!" Ferb froze at his words.

"And you just _knew _about the potential danger of all of the… the stuff they built?!" Linda shouted at Lawrence. "And you never once thought of _telling me?!"_

The Flynn-Fletcher family was locked in such a ferocious argument that they didn't even notice the police and emergency team arrive on the scene. "Excuse me, folks," a policeman rasped as the paramedics went to work with prepping Candace to be brought back to the emergency room, taking less a minute to quickly and efficiently bandage Candace's side. Linda and Lawrence retreated away from their kids, still arguing fiercely, while Phineas and Ferb stood nearby. Feeling helpless, they watched the medics work.

As the victims were being given the necessary care, an athletic and smooth policeman stepped onto the podium. "Hello folks, my name is Inspector Emerson," he began. The people of what remained of the audience turned listlessly to face him. "I would like to offer my sincere regret for your losses on this historic and once-beautiful day. The police are doing everything in their power to restore order and understand this incident."

He cleared his throat. "To that end, we would like to place a warrant on Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher, as they are possible suspects of involuntary manslaughter, depending on the… _ahem_, future conditions of those injured."

"What?" Phineas asked in absolute shock. Ferb gave the policeman a quizzical, unbelieving look, as Inspector Emerson signaled to the other cops on the outskirts of the Park to approach and restrain the brothers.

"No, no, guys, c'mon! That wasn't us!" Phineas laughed weakly. Unfazed, the cops continued their advance towards the boys.

"We need to see our sister," Ferb pleaded. "She was injured!"

"Yeah, because of your invention, geniuses," the short man who had attempted to save the mayor's life snidely put in.

"I can't believe it," a woman shook her head, breaking down into tears. "It was their invention that shot my grandfather."

"I never want to see them build anything ever again!" shouted another woman angrily.

"They shot the mayor!" one of the officials cried.

"And their sister!" Lawrence thundered. "Everyone is in danger!"

"Dad!" Phineas and Ferb cried.

"Who knows what other monstrosity they could build?" a person from the back yelled.

The next moment, the crowd seemed to burst to life as they hurled insults and accusations at Phineas and Ferb. Yet others started a chant of "Down with Phineas and Ferb! Down with Phineas and Ferb!" All the while, they moved in closer and closer, entrapping the brothers with their cries. And the police, though hindered by the mob around them, continued their march to arrest the boys.

Phineas looked around at the crowd and did not see a single supportive face. Strangely, none of the faces elicited the same sick feeling Isabella's face had instigated; instead, he felt an odd sense of defiance and determination. He was not the killer. He could not have been responsible. He would find out who did this.

He looked over at Ferb who, though pale with apprehension, also had the same determined look. They exchanged a swift glance, and Phineas grabbed his arm and quickly pushed the button on the teleportation device. In a second, they were gone.

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

From the back of the crowd. Isabella watched the flash of light, heard the crackle, and knew that Phineas was gone.

That was it. Just like that. He was gone.

She fingered the letter in her pocket, a bitter taste growing in her mouth. The light cloud cover from just a few minutes ago had condensed into puffy rainclouds, beginning to weep on her, and everyone else's, behalf.

_I know it has been a long time coming, but I think I've finally figured it out._

No he hadn't.

_I'm sorry it took so long. _

No he wasn't.

_I promise to never lie to you in that way ever again._

But he did.

He had left her.

"Isabella! Isabella, oh thank god," Ginger appeared next to Isabella, tears streaming down her face. She snapped Isabella out of her trance when she grabbed her hand. "C'mon. We gotta go to the hospital to see Gretchen and Adyson."

"Gretchen and Adyson?" Isabella asked, her stomach turning at what she would hear next.

Terrified, Ginger realized that she hadn't heard what had happened to her two best friends. "They, um… We gotta go," she repeated numbly.

"What about Candace?" asked Isabella. She wanted to press a pause button and have a moment to sit down and take everything in.

"What _about_ Candace?" Ginger repeated. Her face contorted. "Candace… did she…? Is that why I can't find Stacy?"

At that moment, Stacy came up and gave her little sister a comforting hug from behind. "The medics say she's strong, so her chances are good," she said, her voice hoarse from crying. "And from what I can tell, no one has died. Yet. But we should still go to the hospital. We'll take my car."

Isabella gasped with horror. "Candace… she was a victim?!"

Just then, Buford showed up too. His typical burly countenance remained unchanged, but eyes were hollow and glazed over, as though he was trying to hold back tears. "I'm comin' with," he growled.

"Sure, Buford, but don't you want to see your family first?" Ginger rasped, concerned. Buford stared her silently.

"She, um… Adyson. Make sure," he mumbled, toeing the ground. Isabella came to his rescue; she understood how he felt. She had known his crush on her for the past year, and admired the intense desire to make sure a loved one was okay. _Even Buford, _she silently seethed. _Even Buford could care more than Phineas._

But out loud, she said, "I think we should all go." Buford stared at Isabella, and as he did, his eyes sparked with a glint of gratitude. Then they returned back to their dead state.

"It's okay, Buford, we have plenty of room," Stacy replied. She tried to chuckle, but it sounded more like a pathetic wheeze. "We can take anyone who wants to go. But we need to go now."

* * *

"So, what just happened?" asked Baljeet through the videochat on Ginger's phone, trying to make sense of the blubbering, sullen mess that were Buford, Ginger, and Katie.

The three kids were all gathered around the small screen, squished into the back of Stacy's Honda, trying to explain the situation to him. Isabella sat up front with Stacy. She didn't feel like talking to Baljeet, or to anyone for that matter. Somehow, she didn't feel the overwhelming desire to break down in tears, like Stacy next to her or her friends in the back. Instead, a constant buzzing sensation filled all of her senses because she could not stop thinking about Phineas. But it wasn't anger with which she regarded him. It was more like…clarity.

"…Phineas and Ferb…" blubbered Katie in the back.

"…Shootings…" Buford muttered, staring outside.

"…Candace…" Ginger said with a quavering voice.

"…and Gretchen and Adyson…" added Katie mournfully.

Baljeet put up his hands and shook his head. "Wait. Slow down. Back up. What about shootings? Is Phineas and Ferb okay? Who shot at everyone?"

The kids in the car exchanged glances, and finally Buford replied hollowly, "Phineas and Ferb. Their invention. Shot everyone."

Much to their consternation, Baljeet laughed. Noticing their expressions, he quickly sobered. "Their invention is made of holograms," he stated skeptically. "It is not possible."

"Tell that to Adyson and Gretchen," said Ginger defiantly, immediately breaking down at the thought of her dead friends.

"Yeah. And to their dead sister," muttered Buford in a low voice.

Isabella whirled around to face Buford, who stared at her in shock. "Don't say that!" she scolded harshly. She was surprised at the amount of steadiness in her voice. "We don't know that she's dead."

"She got shot point-blank in the stomach, Isabella," Katie said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Truth is…"

"The medics said the bullet broke Adyson's rib," Buford intoned dully.

"You saw the pool of blood form next to Gretchen after Phineas and Ferb shot her—" Ginger started, but Isabella cut her off.

"Stop it! Just stop, all of you!" she exclaimed, shaking Katie's hand off her shoulder. "Candace, Gretchen, and Adyson are not gone from our lives. They wouldn't just leave us; they're strong. They know they need to survive. And they'll be here for us. We'll meet them on the other side. I promise."

With that, Isabella folded her arms and stared at the highway through the fat lazy raindrops hitting the car window faster and faster. The car was silent for a few moments after Isabella's tirade. Stacy put a comforting hand on her arm and gave her a sober smile, but Isabella did not shift her gaze.

Baljeet broke the uneasy calm with a cough that made everyone jump in his or her seat. "I am… sorry," he said apprehensively. "I am glad none of you are hurt." No one acknowledged him.

"And Phineas and Ferb are _not_ killers," Isabella declared.

"Isabella… I know it's hard to face the truth, but the truth is, their invention created a person that shot the mayor and a bunch of people we know." Katie couldn't help keep a note of bitterness out of her voice as she addressed her friend.

"And Katie, it should be easy to face the truth! Phineas and Ferb are _not killers!_" she repeated, turning around to face Katie with jaw set and fists clenched.

"Get your head out of Phineas-land, Isabella," Ginger demanded. "Gretchen and Adyson aren't a joke."

"Neither is pinning a crime on innocent people! It shouldn't be possible for bullets to magically materialize out of thin air!" Isabella countered. "And I am not in Phineas-land!"

"The technicality does seem to strengthen her case," Baljeet added helpfully.

"Baljeet!" Ginger barked. He put his hands up in a sign of surrender. "Just saying," he said meekly.

"Listen. I know this sounds crazy. But Phineas can't be guilty of doing this," Isabella implored, overlooking that she had subconsciously left out Ferb's name.

She had no idea why she was trying to defend his case. Every aspect of the situation should have pointed her to hatefully blaming him with a passion: the invention was his; he broke her heart; her friends were dying. But a small voice spoke out against all of the evidence. Unintelligible and almost inaudible, she nevertheless felt the conviction of that voice more compelling than any reasoning available.

"Isabella, we're not having this conversation right now," Stacy said, breathing out heavily. She peered out the window. The rain was steadily growing heavier.

"But he needs out help!" she protested.

"No! You know who needs our help? Candace needs our help. Gretchen needs out help. Adyson needs our help. Our families. Mayor Doofenshmirtz. They're the ones who need help right now." Stacy took a deep breath, letting out all of her steam. "Look, Isabella. Whatever dream-priorities you might have right now, no matter how innocent you think Phineas is – you need to drop those thoughts right now. Because they're not in danger of dying right now, but our friends are."

"And even if they are in danger, maybe they can just conjure up some more holographic assassins to protect them," Katie said sarcastically.

Ginger gave Katie a disapproving look, but did not contradict her. "We need to care about the innocent before we care about the guilty," she said simply.

Buford remained silent, but nodded. His eyes were still blank.

For a heartbeat, Isabella stared at them all in bewilderment. Then, with a constricted voice, she said, "Let me out."

"What?"

"Let me out of the car. Now."

"Isabella, we're on a highway and almost at the hospital. Don't be stupid—"

"YOU'RE BEING STUPID!" she shouted, her voice cracking with emotion. "LET ME OUT!"

Stacy abruptly pulled over and unlocked the door. "Okay, here. Get out."

Isabella quickly flung open the door and jumped out into the rain. Before she rushed away, Stacy cranked open the window and, leaning over, yelled, "You know, maybe you should stop being so selfish and start thinking about others! I'm losing my best friend as we speak and there's absolutely nothing I can do about it. Do you know how that feels?!"

The window rolled up and the car sped away, leaving Isabella in the rain. She watched the car leave, basking in the bitter irony of Stacy's last question. But no one else understood it; no one else knew. The only people whom she had texted about Phineas' letter and knew about his subsequent fake charade of love - Gretchen and Adyson - were unconscious and dying. She collapsed on the damp asphalt, her head wracked with guilt, self-disgust, and anguish. Her fingers pulled out the letter, which was now soaked with rainwater, and Isabella found herself crying as she watched the paper dissolve into nothing.

* * *

Wow. Even I'll admit that chapter was dark. But it isn't called "the Fall" for nothing, I guess. Go on, send in that review of what's on your mind. You know you want to do it.


	5. The Nadir

**A/N: **Again, nothing much to say. Enjoy!

* * *

"I'm glad you saved us from incarceration, Phin," said Ferb, brushing off his pants, "but where are we?"

"I don't know, I wasn't really thinking straight while we were teleporting," said Phineas worriedly. "The only clear thought I had was that we had to find out who did this to us."

He stood up and surveyed the empty road they were standing in. "'S'good not to have people trying to arrest or accuse us for anything, though."

"Well, it doesn't look like your teleporter did a good job, because it looks like we're not in Danville anymore," commented Ferb, taking stock of the surrounding neighborhood. The dusty road was enclosed by small, dingy, shack-like houses. Some were missing roofs and only had aluminum coverings. Others were missing doors. Many did not have windows.

"It's okay," said Phineas. "Let me just fire up the teleporter again—"

Just then, a person wearing a light grey sweater hoodie jumped out of the shadows of the buildings. Running up to Phineas, the hooded figure swiped the teleporting stick from his hand and dashed away.

"Hey! Dude!" Phineas cried. "Give it back!"

"We can't lose that," Ferb muttered. He took off after the person with Phineas not far behind. As fast as the boys were, the guy was quicker and nimbler, and knew the map of the neighborhood better. It took all of their stamina and observational skills to keep him in sight.

After several blocks of the chase, the guy finally disappeared into a dark one-room shack. Relaxing with relief, Phineas and Ferb entered the shack, only to find it completely devoid of people.

"…what?!" Ferb expressed. He pantomimed an explosion. Phineas laughed.

"Bro. Bro. That is hilarious." Phineas started to poke around at the meager furniture in the room. "Maybe she hid somewhere."

"He could be anywhere!" Ferb shouted. He spread his arms open with a flourish to illustrate the magnitude and accidentally hit the flower vase on the table next to him. Without thinking, he reached out to catch the falling vase.

But nothing fell. Instead, the vase tilted out at a forty-five degree angle, as though stuck on a hinge.

"Whoa…" Phineas breathed as he examined the mysterious vase. Underneath the vase, the table opened up into a little indent in the wood. Hiding in the indent was a black button.

"Do the honors, Ferb?" Phineas grinned. Adopting his mocking majestic persona again, Ferb bowed and pressed the button.

The shack shuddered. The brothers glanced at each other, unsure of what to do. The shaking continued and the boys were just about to hightail it out of the shack, but just then, they heard a metallic sliding sound. Glancing up, they noticed a round hole in the ground with a ladder built into the sides of the hole.

"Shall we?" asked Phineas, gesturing to the hole. Ferb nodded, and together, they descended into the pit.

It took almost a minute to reach the bottom. "This sure is taking a while," said Phineas nonchalantly. "Are we sure this is where the guy went?"

"Pretty sure," Ferb said curtly. "He did come into the shack."

"Also, I feel a bit of déjà vu going down here," commented Phineas. Ferb gave him a shrug.

"I dunno. I guess I'm just feeling the aftereffects of that terrible Anniversary accident. We didn't build this hole, right?" Phineas asked.

Just then, they reached the bottom of the hole. The two dropped lightly onto the damp concrete floor and immediately switched on their phone flashlights. The next sight greeting them almost gave them heart attacks.

Three burly men stood less than ten feet away from them, pointing handguns at their chests. The hooded figure stood in front of them, his face still hidden by the grey sweater.

"Give us back our teleporter!" Phineas yelled, trying to keep his voice from trembling.

"It was ours and we need it," Ferb said. "C'mon man."

"Man?" a voice sounded. It was high-pitched like a girl's and had the potential to sound sweet, but was instead hardened by a lifetime of pain, loneliness, and loss. Phineas pointed at one of the gunmen.

_You?_ he mouthed.

Muscleman shook his head and gestured with his gun hand at the hooded figure, who clasped the hood and unveiled his face.

Or rather, her face.

Phineas couldn't help but let his jaw drop as he stared at the person under the hood. Ferb reacted in a similarly surprised manner: his eyes widened the tiniest fraction.

"I…Isabella?" Phineas whispered.

The girl did indeed have a striking resemblance to their best friend across the street on Maple Drive. She looked around the same age as her, and her head had the same, quasi-semicircle structure, housing long hair, bright blue eyes, and a constant smile. But Phineas blinked and the momentary confusion is gone. The long hair, once possibly a shade of blonde, was now streaked with grime and filled with locks and tangles; the bright blue eyes hid a tired sense of defeat; and the constant smile wavered as she heard the name Phineas uttered.

"Who?" she asked. It wasn't so much hostile as it was despairing.

"No. No, I'm sorry. You're not… Sorry. But what? You're a girl?" Phineas rambled.

"Yes, I'm a girl," the thief said with a hint of quiet sarcasm. Her smile returned. "And you are?"

"Well, I'm Phineas and this is my brother Ferb," said Phineas, gesturing to himself and his brother. Ferb waved.

Much to their chagrin, the girl laughed. Her laugh sparkled in the dank sewer like a bubbling freshwater stream. "Yeah, and I'm actually your friend Isabella," she said drily. Phineas detected another emotion in her voice. Was it… wistfulness?

"Well, we are," he repeated, creeping towards her. If he could just get in range of that girl…

But the girl stepped back, smiling as though she knew what Phineas was thinking. "Okay then, genius," she said, her voice lowering to a purr. "Prove it. Use your inventions."

"To do what?" Phineas asked apprehensively. Silently, he pressed a small ring into Ferb's hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ferb nod ever so slightly.

"Well, guess," she whispered sensually, her voice thick with innuendo.

"I dunno. Build a rollercoaster?" Phineas stalled.

The girl laughed. "To get your little _teleporter _back," she replied, grinning mischievously as she stepped behind the huge bodyguards. They continued to hold Phineas at gunpoint.

His blood pounding, Phineas stared at the four gun nozzles pointed at his face. "I… I don't build inventions to hurt people or steal," he said, his voice finally cracking. "I do it for fun."

"Fun, like at the Danville Founding Anniversary Massacre?" the girl said dangerously.

Phineas cringed. "That wasn't us, I swear," he pleaded.

"Then why did you escape being arrested?" the girl demanded, unable to resist the urge to push out from behind the musclemen to get a better look at Phineas.

"I needed to find out who really made that shooting possible! Because like I'm telling you, it wasn't me!" Phineas shouted, approaching the girl. _Just one step closer,_ he thought. _Take one more step._

"Oh really?" said the girl, her voice rising as she took that essential step. Phineas looked up at one of the guards who had strange green highlights. One of the guards gave a thumbs-up, and Phineas smiled. She was in range.

He deftly grabbed her arm with the teleporter and twisted up into her neck, creating a sort of headlock with her own arm. The bruisers meanwhile had fired their pistols, but with Phineas in a whirlwind of motion, all that got hit was the teleporter, which exploded into a million pieces frizzing with electricity. Phineas then shut off the flashlight and, guided by the sparks emitting from the ground, he started frantically building with the parts on the ground.

Meanwhile, a scuffle in the dark ensued. Sounds of punches and grunts echoed in the damp tunnel. In the dark, Phineas could make out one of the guards – the green-haired one – deftly block a right hook, then a left jab to the face. The green-haired guard moved in and, grabbing the man's neck, kneed him in the eye. He followed up with a quick sleeper hold, cutting off the man's blood supply. For six seconds, the green-haired guard used the incapacitated muscleman as a shield. He blocked the other guards' punches with the limp muscleman's body. Six seconds was enough for the green-haired guard to send the disoriented man reeling into the wall, unable to crawl, much less fight. The green-haired guard roared, "Now, Phin!"

Six seconds was also enough for Phineas to fashion a makeshift Taser out of the broken pieces of the teleporter. He pressed the button, and arcs of electricity shot out from the mouth of the Taser, hitting the other two guards. They dropped to the floor, twitching.

Phineas bent over and grasped at his knees while the green-haired guard turned off the holographic disguise ring on his finger. His image flickered, then reverted to an exhausted-looking Ferb, who slid down the side of the tunnel wall. Both were breathing heavily.

"I told you I could build just as well as you," Phineas said, breaking the silence. Ferb laughed.

"Nice fighting, by the way," Phineas added, going over to help his brother up. "I'm glad that holographic ring I snatched from the invention in the park worked. I did some really unorthodox tweaks to conserve battery life, so I wasn't sure if it would work."

"Yeah. My hair was still green though, Phin. That was kind of a big giveaway," Ferb remarked. "Need to fix that."

"Yeah, I can't believe no one noticed that!" Phineas laughed.

"Or the fact that another guard seemed to materialize out of thin air." The brothers high-fived, then heard the sound of a gun safety clicking off. The boys whirled around into the glare of their phone flashlights that they had dropped. To their horror saw the girl holding the gun to their heads. And she wasn't smiling.

For a very tense and scary heartbeat, no one moved. To their great surprise, the girl broke the silence by laughing heartily.

"You guys are pretty good," she chuckled, lowering her gun.

"Like I said, I'm Phineas and this is my brother Ferb," said Phineas in an annoyed voice.

"I'm convinced," she said. Beckoning them with their hand, she started deeper into the tunnel. "C'mon," she said. "I have something to show you."

"Why should we follow you?" Phineas demanded heatedly.

"Because you just broke your teleporter and you don't have anywhere else to go," she said with a note of harshness, stopping but not bothering to turn around.

Phineas stared at Ferb.

_What about this girl?_ Phineas gestured in a furor.

_You did break our teleporter,_ Ferb shrugged.

Phineas breathed out heavily. "Let's go," he said in a resigned voice.

The girl could not help from keeping a light skip in her step as she descended into the tunnel.

* * *

"So what do I call you?" asked Phineas, walking in rhythm with the mystery girl.

He looked back at Ferb over his shoulder. Ferb would lag behind, lost in thought or busy tinkering with the holographic rings that Phineas had given him (Phineas had swiped two: one for himself and one for his brother); then realizing that he would lose his brother and their guide to the sewers, he would dash up next to them and repeat the cycle.

The girl paused. "Echo," she finally answered.

Phineas stared at her. "Really," he said incredulously.

"What? It's my name!"

"It's just… it's just kind of unusual, is all."

"Well, I'm not your usual type of girl," she said, giving him a coy smile. Ferb caught up to the pair.

"I guess not," said Phineas, ignoring her advances as he lapsed into a brooding silence.

As Ferb fell back again, Echo continued, "And you're Phineas. The Phineas Flynn."

"Yeah, well, you can forget everything you've ever thought about me, because it seems like everyone is doing the same," said Phineas bitterly.

Echo stared at him. "Since I met you, the only thing I've ever doubted about you is your optimism."

"What?"

Ferb caught up to them, and then noticed a flaw in the ring's design and lagged behind again trying to fix it.

"Look, it's like this," Echo began. "All of us have had our fair share of bad experiences—"

"Not as bad as some of mine and Ferb's," Phineas muttered. "_Especially_ today."

"Oh, you'd be surprised. But something I…uh, we have always admired about you is that for every failure you've had for the past three years of your inventing and building and dream-fulfilling, you've also had enough optimism to overcome that failure. Like when you did that community service project last year and improved the conditions for underground and sewage workers by building specialized vent tunnels."

The realization finally dawned on Phineas. "That's what I built those passageways into the ground for!" he marveled to Ferb as he caught up again. "That's why going down the ladder seemed so familiar earlier."

"Right. You remember how much trouble you had with the contractors?"

"When they disagreed with our design because they thought it wouldn't be effective enough to allow fresh air to the underground passages."

"Yes. And you remember how you compensated by building a giant air ventilator fan into the hole that should have been impossible?" Echo smiled. "But you built it."

"Yeah," Phineas reminisced. "Yeah… wait. Where did it go?"

"Well, we needed a place to stay, and no one came into this part of the tunnels anyway. So we removed the fan – saves power, anyway – and built the ladders into the tunnel walls."

"You keep mentioning a 'we.' Who's we?" asked Phineas.

"This," Echo answered simply, finally coming to the end of the tunnel. She gestured out into the opening, and Phineas gasped at what he saw.

An underground cavern, roughly the size of a football stadium, greeted Phineas. He stared in shock at the dozens of people milling around or lying on grimy blankets on the ground, dressed in clothing of various degrees of shabbiness. A stream of garbage-packed fluid trickled past in a trench against the wall where Phineas and Ferb stood. Several fluorescent light bulbs provided the only illumination of the gloomy setting.

"Welcome to the other side of Danville," Echo announced.

* * *

Expect an update soon; the next chapter will be a partial follow-up to the character, and we'll get to know her and the underground, homeless network of Danville a bit more.

I recently spent a week helping out at a health center in a very poor area of New York City, and I've always wondered about Danville, because for all of the thriving citizens of every great metropolis, there are always people living without homes and in poverty. I experienced that firsthand. And I got to thinking: would the great city of Danville be any different than the rest? Well, yes, because Phineas and Ferb exist there, and created this little enclave for them to be in. (And I'm sure the boys would be great humanitarians, but because they're only 14 and haven't actually given it much thought - or so I assume - they haven't done as much.)

Anyway, go on and send in that review of what's on your mind. Do it. You know you want to.


	6. Knocked Back Down Again

**A/N:** As school approaches (gah!) I may become a little busy, but I will do my best to update regularly. But enough chit chat. Let us commence!

Also, brownie points to the person who gets the "Sleepless in Seattle" reference! Movie night with the neighborhood buds was "Sleepless" and I thought a parallel scene here would suffice in both tone and content.

* * *

"Listen, I appreciate your help, Echo," Phineas said, trying to avoid a patronizing tone while arguing with Echo. "But we'll be fine. Seriously."

"You guys can't go up there! Everyone's going to see you and immediately recognize who you are!" Echo pointed out hastily. "And we want to help you! We can!"

"Oh, will they recognize us?" Phineas said in a sly voice. He slipped on the ring Ferb just handed to him, and they simultaneously pressed the glowing blue button. Instantly, Phineas and Ferb turned into two Echo's.

Dumbfounded, the real Echo gaped at the boys' new invention.

"Like I said before, we swiped these from our latest… failed invention," said Phineas-Echo.

"We can turn into anyone, as long as we can visualize them clearly. The better we know them and see them, the better we have them in our minds, the clearer they are," Ferb added. "It's a new cognitive-read function I added."

In a small voice, Echo said, "Yeah, you guys should be fine." She took a deep breath, as though struggling. "Use that tunnel to get downtown. Maybe you can start there – ask the police about what they know."

"Thanks! See you around! I promise to come back to visit, when this all clears up!" Phineas called back as his image flickered into a middle-aged man. Ferb, now a sandy-haired teenager, waved, and the two disappeared back into the tunnel.

* * *

"Whew, I missed the sun," Phineas the middle-aged commented blissfully, letting his slicked-back black hair soak in the sunshine.

"Never wanna go back there again," Ferb the teenager said with a sigh of relief.

"Okay, bud, let's get to the Police Station and see what they've found out. Maybe they've acquired some evidence about the bullets or wounds or something," said Phineas.

"Shouldn't we at least visit Candace?" Ferb worried.

"Bro. What would Candace do if she saw two complete strangers approach her in a hospital room?" Phineas asked, laughing. "C'mon. It's better if we don't see people we recog…"

He faltered and stopped moving. "What is it now?" Ferb said in a tired voice. He looked up at where Phineas was staring and let out a sigh of exasperation.

"Really, Phin? The Soda Fountain? You want a snack?" Ferb berated him. But Phineas didn't reply, nor did he move. His holographic image started to flicker.

"Phin? Is everything okay?" Ferb asked. Phineas turned to face him, his real face breaking through the static of the hologram; Ferb could see the distraught look on his face.

"That's… that's the last place I hung out with Isabella," he stammered.

Ferb recalled Phineas and Isabella's annual "get-together" (Phineas refused to call it a "date," much to Ferb's amusement). Ever since he had offered her ice cream on her 11th birthday, Phineas would take her out every year to the Soda Fountain for hot fudge sundaes with chocolate sprinkles and extra wafer rolls, and this year was no exception. Just a week before the Anniversary disaster, he had fulfilled the yearly promise and had a particularly good time on her 14th birthday – they even went to the park together to watch the sunset. It took all of Ferb's willpower not to smack his oblivious brother and tell him straight out that Isabella loved him, and that deep down he loved Isabella too.

In any case, Ferb could understand the emotional weight of the memory the ice cream shop initiated, but could not fathom why Phineas' hologram wasn't working. It couldn't be something wrong with the ring; Ferb had double-checked every possible complication. _So it must be something wrong with…_

Phineas turned to Ferb, and Ferb could almost feel the torment his brother was experiencing. "Ferb, do you ever think about what just happened? Not just what happened, but like how people like Mom and Dad must be taking this?"

Ferb froze again. _"You shot my daughter!" his father had shouted at him. "Your invention shot your own sister! EVERYTHING is wrong with that!"_

Ferb felt his holographic image started to flicker too. "Phineas," he muttered through gritted teeth, "We gotta stay focused. The rings pick up on the electrical impulses that our brain sends out. If we start losing focus, we—"

"Isabella, she… she wouldn't say anything to me. She just pushed me away and left me," Phineas said, his voice thick with sorrowful nostalgia. "She probably thinks I'm a murderer. And Mom and Dad. Mom hates me. Dad can't trust us. And everyone else. Baljeet and Buford, the Fireside Girls, heck, all of Danville. What do we do, Ferb?"

Ferb noticed his brother's holographic disguise fade away. He grabbed his arm and rushed into a deserted alley, but could not prevent his mind from racing towards destructive thoughts. His head became overwhelmed by an incessant wave of memories of his father, memories of his flawed construction – memories filled with the hurt and pain of being wrong. And to his consternation, he saw his own holographic disguise dissolve into nothing.

"What can we do?" Phineas repeated. He watched the setting sun, lost in suffering thought.

Ferb sighed. There was only one thing they could do.

* * *

Echo was stretched out on a blanket in the main room underground, eyes closed as she replayed the crazy day, trying to manage all of the confusing emotions running racking her brain. A passing bullet in the leg had scraped a friend of hers, a middle-aged woman who had acted as her mother figure for as long as she could imagine. The woman sat on the other side of the room, sleeping soundly after wrapping her wound tightly in gauze; she could not afford hospital care.

But the sorrow and pity she felt combated with absolute joy. She considered herself one of the luckiest people alive that day: she had met _the_ Phineas and Ferb. And they were just as bright, smart, witty, funny, and good-looking as she had imagined. Phineas had even put his arm around her. Granted, it was while he was trying to restrain her with a chokehold, and granted, they had were on the lam, but it was significant nonetheless. She smiled. She could still hear his voice, edgy and warm at the same time, saying…

"Hi, Echo."

Her eyes snapped open. "Phineas?"

He sighed. "Ferb and I were… wondering if we could stay here tonight," he said hesitantly.

For a moment, she stood frozen, trying to form words in her mouth but failing to enunciate any coherent words. _Get your act together, _she ordered to herself fiercely.

"Sure! Sure, sure, we have room for you guys," she said, flustered. "I mean, it's not the best of places, of course, and there's a bit of a stink sometimes, and I look terrible, I'm sorry, I just—"

Ferb put a hand on her shoulder. She was surprised at the emotional depth and reassurance it carried.

"It'll do," he said simply.

"Just the fact that you don't hate us is enough to trust you for… help," said Phineas awkwardly.

Echo slowly beamed. "Let me get you some blankets," she said, running off.

* * *

"So what's your real name?" asked Phineas, propping himself up on his elbow and facing Echo.

The boys had made their encampment directly next to Echo's, as that was the only space available and big enough to accommodate the two teenagers. Ferb was currently sleeping like a baby; he had passed out long ago. Phineas found that his mind was racing too much to oblige sleep.

"I already told you, it's Echo," she said, addressing him with closed eyes as she lounged on her back.

"Okay, humor me. Why were you named Echo?"

"Because I hear everything in these tunnels. I hear everything, and I know everything. And I'm not afraid to repeat it anywhere I want.

"People respect me because I can get them information, and people fear me because I can take information from them. I'm like the echo of this city. It's a reminder to our network that I hold power, because I know what everyone is thinking, what everyone is saying – and I can echo it everywhere else. I've been the eyes and ears for this network for years now, ever since I turned eight and learned to get my way around. That's how it's been, and that's not going to change," she finished flatly.

Phineas was quiet for a few seconds, and then asked, "So you were named for a job that you didn't even know you would partake in until you turned eight?"

She opened her eyes, realizing that he had uncovered the hole in her story. Turning her head to glance at Phineas, she observed the small, sympathetic smile, and before she knew it, she had said the cursed word.

"Evelyn," she whispered. Tears formed in her eye, but she quickly brushed them away.

"Evelyn," he mused. "That's a beautiful name. Why…?"

She took a deep breath. "My mom and dad were both… kinda homeless," she confessed. _Why am telling him this?_ she thought crossly. But unable to stop herself, she continued.

"We always lived in Danville. But my mom and dad were never motivated enough to get jobs, and we would live in the shelter in the city. Eventually, we found out about the network of others like us, and we got in contact with them. My dad had a way with people, and he soon became an integral part of the movement to improve the lives of the homeless. He met with City Hall officials, organized soup kitchens, advanced the shelter's facilities, and overall was a great man. And he was a great dad. Both mom and I always knew he hated being dirt-poor, but he loved us both so much. He said he would never leave us or lie to us.

"I remember him telling me that he named me Evelyn after the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. I asked him who that woman was, and beaming, he would say, 'your mother.' He loved us.

"Or, that's what we thought," she said, pausing. She felt the tears well up again and didn't try to stop them this time. She turned away, feeling the sobs rock her body as she tried to control them, but to no avail.

Then she felt a hand support her back and lift her up to a sitting position. She obeyed, limp, and felt Phineas gently prop her against a slab of concrete.

"If you don't want to continue, it's okay," he said softly.

"No. I need to get this out," she stated quickly, drying her eyes again. "I was eight. Life was as good as it had ever been. Maybe even better.

"I'm playing by myself in the shelter, when I hear a cry of pain in the bathroom. I run into it and see my mom over the sink, her wrists spurting blood over the floor. Some of it splashed on my face, and into my mouth when I screamed. She saw me and whispered "I'm sorry," before collapsing on the floor. She was dead in less than a minute.

"I'd later learn that my dad had run off with the old City Hall secretary, a former model and actress, after the press exposed multiple affairs reaching as far back as a year before my mom's death. Turns out he finally found his way out of being poor, and he seized that chance by the horns. Being eight at the time, I couldn't do anything about it. And when you live homeless for years, your extended family tends to want to forget you. So I really didn't have anyone except the network.

My father promised me that he would never leave me or lie to me, and instead, that's exactly what he did. I've spent the last six years, hoping beyond hope that he would come back and fix his broken promise, make everything back to normal, but…" She stopped, exhausted and drained of energy; she didn't want to do anything but sleep. But she still maintained her hard edge to her voice and her gaze,

"So the name Evelyn – it reminds you of all… that?" Phineas summarized. She nodded.

He was quiet for a minute. "I'm sorry," he finally said.

"It's not your fault," she replied. "And the name doesn't hurt as much after six years of waiting."

"You're fourteen?" he asked in disbelief. "No way you're fourteen. You looked a lot older."

"Yeah, just fourteen," she said, finally dropping her poker face. Her eyes softened, her muscles relaxed, and suddenly, her façade of an older, more experienced, and more devilish woman disappeared. Phineas finally saw her as who she really was: just a regular girl, moneyless, friendless, beaten down by a broken family and years of loneliness, tired of having to fend for herself, and filled with sadness. But he saw good things in her too: an impossibly strong will, a quick-thinking and even-tempered head, and warm heart of selflessness and compassion for other suffering people.

"I just… sometimes I just feel like I have no one to turn to," she said wistfully. "And then I realize that… that's exactly it. I really don't have anyone to turn to."

"Well, I never had to turn to anyone either," said Phineas. "But truthfully, that was okay with me. Under different circumstances, of course."

She turned to him with a quizzical look as he continued. "My brother and I build those cool things with our friends, but to be honest, we can build them on our own. To be perfectly honest, I could probably build everything on my own. Ferb is just a lot better at building, so he speeds up the process. A lot.

"But I know how you feel," continued Phineas, gazing into one of the lights on the ceiling. "I lost everyone I ever knew today. My mom, my dad, my friends… they're all gone. I can't turn to anyone either."

"And Isabella? Is she…" asked Evelyn hesitantly, at a loss for words.

"She…" Phineas felt himself at a loss for words as well. "She is – was…"

"Someone you could always count on?" Evelyn ventured.

Phineas mulled over his response. He knew that every single piece of evidence he had to offer pointed to the answer "yes" to Evelyn's question. But for some bizarre reason, he couldn't bring himself to say it. It was almost like a stubborn voice in his head was telling him to say that no, he didn't need anyone to count on, he was perfectly capable of doing everything himself, thank you very much. So he sat there, gaping like a fish, unable to give any answer.

Evelyn saw him struggle and gave a sad smile of understanding. "Tell me about her," she said quietly. "About Isabella."

Phineas sighed in relief. _That _was something he could answer.

"Well, how long have you got?" he joked.

Evelyn gestured with a dramatic flair at the room of sleeping people wrapped in rags and grubby blankets. "Oh, I got time," she said drily.

Phineas laughed. "Well, there's a million little things. And when you add it up, it meant she's the most incredible person I could ever know."

Evelyn listened as he talked about some of those little things. All of the inventions in the backyard that she had helped build. Her constant companionship during their trip around the world. Especially fun times he had with her in Paris looking for airplane parts. And her subsequent pep talk when they got stranded on the island that pulled him out of his depressed funk. Her upbeat attitude and occasional dry humor. Her sunny "Whatcha doin'?" that she greeted them with every morning.

As Evelyn listened, she sadly realized where Phineas' heart was. It was with Isabella; it had always been with Isabella. Deep down inside, he would never feel so strongly - indeed, love - anyone but her. But he had never been able to realize those feelings because he felt the need to be independent, be the best without anyone's help or support. So he could never admit those feelings, locked underneath a deep and subtle hubris.

"…and one time, we had a picnic together. And she made, like, five different kinds of foods! All by herself! Enchilatkes, gefilte-flan – though that was kinda gross. We both laughed at it…"

"Phineas, what would you do if you never had those memories?" Evelyn asked suddenly, swallowing her internal desires screaming at her to stop talking about Isabella.

He laughed uneasily. "What?"

"I mean, what if you had never met Isabella. No picnic. No Paris. No 'Whatcha doin's. No Isabella. What would life be like?"

Phineas paused. He had never thought about this particular 'what if' before, but the more he pondered, the more worried he became. He tried his very hardest to imagine life without Isabella, and found he couldn't do it.

"I… I don't know," he said slowly. "I just don't know, what I'd be like, what I'd do."

"Now, what would life be like without your brother Ferb?" Evelyn pressed.

"Well, that's easy. Mom remarried when I was six, so I have years of memories of just me and my sister Candace," said Phineas nonchalantly. "Sure, life was a little lonelier, and building stuff and doing stuff is a lot more fun now, but it was okay. Life went on." His eyes glinted as he caught on to what she was saying. "Oh."

"Sounds to me like Isabella is someone you can always turn to," Evelyn said, patting his shoulder gently. She held back her tears.

"I guess she is, isn't she? I mean, I don't know what I'd do without her! She's… she's like my rock. I'd fall without her," Phineas rambled on. Evelyn couldn't help but chuckle to herself at Phineas' obliviousness. Here he was, saying that he wouldn't know what to do without her, and he still couldn't realize that he loved her.

Phineas' face suddenly fell. "What?" Evelyn asked in a concerned voice.

"But she's gone," Phineas replied, eyes downcast. "She basically rejected me. I'm falling without her. I don't know what to do."

"Hey," she said, scooting over right next to him and putting her arm around his shoulder. "You just said that she's someone you can always turn to. I think out there somewhere, Isabella's waiting for you to come back. And when you do, she'll be there when you need her."

Phineas slowly reclined onto his blanket with a slight groan. "When I need her," he said with difficulty, but he didn't argue with her. Evelyn smiled again. She had gotten through to him.

"Yes, when… wait. Where's Ferb?" she asked, staring at the empty spot next to Phineas.

* * *

Cliffhanger! Where IS Ferb? Also, hope you liked my very first OC. Tried to make her a little distinct in her personality, but she's a work in progress. We'll probably get back to the main canon characters in the next chapters.

As always, your thoughts, dear readers, are greatly appreciated and most wonderfully treasured, especially when they are sent via review form.


	7. The Hospital

Ferb had always hated hospitals.

Quietly, of course. But the revulsion was still there. He could never inure himself to the stark, sterile walls, the constant beeping noises, and the general feeling of sickness hanging in the air like a raincloud. Spending an entire day in the hospital? Forget it.

But Ferb needed to see Candace. He needed to see for his own eyes that she was okay.

He also needed some time away from Phineas. Heck, he needed time away from any talking, period. Though he found Phineas' sanguine chatter a welcome diversion from the situation at hand, he wanted to sort through his thoughts.

So after stealing away from the underground homeless cavern and sleeping on a bench, he set out early in the morning to see Candace at the Danville Hospital. He spent all day sitting in the reception just outside of the intensive care unit, waiting for an opportunity to go inside Candace's room – in disguise, of course – and see that she was okay.

But the opportunity never presented itself. Doctors were constantly checking on her vitals and administering medications. When they weren't attending to her, Linda and Lawrence were smothering her, feeding her, watching silly TV shows with her, and trying to make her feel better. A constant stream of family members and friends flowed in and out of her room that day, making it impossible to go in unnoticed.

After a day of claustrophobic waiting, Linda and Lawrence finally left; the hospital didn't allow visitors to stay overnight. With a sigh of relief, Ferb (still in his disguise as a sandy-haired teenager) approached Candace's room, only to be stopped by the receptionist.

"I'm sorry, but it's past nine o'clock. Visiting hours have ended," she said, not unkindly.

"I didn't even realize, I'm so sorry. Do you think I could just…?" Ferb gestured to the door, being sure to speak with an American accent.

"You've been sitting there for twelve hours. What do you mean you didn't realize?" the receptionist asked, standing up as she eyed Ferb suspiciously. Ferb knew he was defeated.

"Okay, I'll go," he said, putting his hands up apologetically. He exited the reception room. The receptionist shook her head and returned to typing.

A few seconds later, a nurse came in pushing in a cart. "Hello hon, I'm here for a 'Candace Flynn,'" she said. "Vitals and some food for the patient. Special orders."

"Room 209, all the way down the hall," said the receptionist.

"Thanks hon. Also, I'm supposed to check on the status of two other patients. An Adyson Sweetwater and a Gretchen… um, what was her last name again?"

"Oh, I know who you're talking about. She's in Room 314, the section upstairs. Sweetwater is 310," said the receptionist, quickly typing into her computer. "Both are stable, and recovery time is projected to be around… two to three weeks. Say, I've never seen you before. Are you new here?"

"Just got transferred from the CCU," the nurse called over her shoulder. She disappeared into the hallway of patient rooms before the receptionist could say anything else. She shrugged and went back to typing.

In the hallway, the nurse looked over her shoulder, making sure no one was around. Convinced that she was alone, the nurse touched the ring on her finger. Immediately, her image fizzed away, leaving a chuckling Ferb. He quickly grew sober as he approached Candace's room and turned on his teenager disguise once more.

"Candace?" he said quietly as he knocked on the door.

"Come in," replied a familiar voice, hoarse but still strong. Ferb smiled and slid into the room.

"Who is it?" Candace asked without opening her eyes.

"Are… are your eyes okay?" asked Ferb. He felt dizzy. _Candace's eyes were hurt too? What about the rest of her body? Was she really worse than she let on?_

"Yeah, don't worry about it," she said. She tried to laugh, but it came out more like a rasp. Ferb couldn't help but smile at her optimism though. He now understood why Phineas and Candace were blood siblings.

"Norepinephrine. One of the side effects is really bad hypersensitivity to light. The docs got me going on some eyedrops so that tomorrow I can actually open my eyes. That and the hypersensitivity means I can't open my eyes, let alone see anything." She reached out with her hand. "Who is this again?

Ferb caught her hand. "It's… it's Chad," he said, thinking quickly. "I'm a friend of Stacy's."

"You gonna let go of my hand, Chad?" asked Candace in a snarky voice.

Ferb quickly released her hand; he found he had been squeezing it. "Sorry."

Candace laughed. "I was kidding. It's reassuring to have someone touch you who doesn't want to poke or drill stuff in you."

Ferb flinched. It was his fault that Candace was here with a bullet hole through her body. True, he definitely didn't want to have that happen, but her words still stung.

"Anyway, what are you doing here? I thought visiting hours were closed," Candace continued, sitting up. Her eyes were still squeezed shut.

"I, uh…" Ferb didn't know what to say. He didn't have an excuse or a made-up story, so he went with the truth. "I just wanted to make sure you're okay. We were really concerned about you and wish we were with you throughout this ordeal."

"Stace was with me," said Candace. "She was there when I was shot."

Ferb mentally facepalmed.

"Right, right, I meant… I mean, I didn't…" he faltered. He was really terrible at this.

"Hey, hey. I get it," Candace said, turning to give Ferb a closed-eye smile. "It's been a long day. We forget stuff. Sometimes, we even mess up. But at the end of the day, that stuff doesn't matter."

"Mm?" Ferb remarked intelligently. He didn't know what else to say.

"Trust me, I've had all day to think about this," Candace laughed. "But you just remember the important stuff about people. Take, for example, my brothers. Phineas and Ferb."

Ferb sucked in a breath.

"People have been screaming on and on about how they shot me, they built the invention that nearly killed a dozen people. They're screaming that they are the true killers, they deserve retribution, yada yada yada. And the truth is, I've watched them build and invent and create for almost eight years. And though every single one was annoying and bustable, not even once in my life have I ever seen either of them make a single person's life worse.

"Part of me really wants to blame them. Go along with the crowd, choose the easy answer. That side of me is the louder part. That's what my parents keep saying, and I do have a bullet hole in my solar plexus. And no amount of morphine can dull the pain completely." Ferb stiffened, but Candace wasn't done.

"But part of me also knows that they didn't do this. Because they couldn't do this."

Candace started to cough madly. Ferb rushed to get her a glass of water, which she gratefully accepted. "Bullet ripped through some tissue near my diaphragm," she rasped. "Be fine in a couple of weeks. Also, sorry I dumped all of that on you."

"No, it's fine," said Ferb. "I really appreciate you telling me that."

"I didn't know you were English, Chad," said Candace nonchalantly.

Ferb started to sweat. "What?" he said, slowly shuffling towards the exit.

"That last line," she continued. "You spoke in an English accent. Just noticed that."

"I, uh… my father is English," Ferb stammered. He gestured to the door, forgetting Candace couldn't see. "I gotta go, sorry. I just wanted to drop in really quickly."

"No, no, it's late, I get it," Candace said casually as she slid down into her bed. "No sweat. Oh, and Chad?"

Ferb cursed himself, one foot out the door. He had almost made it, and now he was sure Candace had figured out his cover and would call in the hospital security. Heck, maybe she would even call the cops.

"Chad? Do me a favor, all right? If you see my brother Ferb, tell him that though I'm still not a hundred percent ready to see him yet, I have his back. Tell him I won't be out of here for at least a few weeks, but he'll always have a place to come back to, someone to talk to. And tell him I love him. Okay?"

Ferb turned and stared at her. "You want me to… your brother Ferb?" he stuttered. Candace hadn't included Phineas, which was wildly astray from her usual character. Either the drugs she was taking were scrambling her thoughts, or…

Candace winked, which was no small feat with eyes squeezed shut. But she did it, and Ferb wanted to hug her right there and then.

Very quietly, in an almost inaudible voice, Candace whispered, "Go show 'em we're right and they're wrong. You can do it."

She opened her eyes the tiniest fraction, which must have taken a huge deal of effort, and Ferb gave her a thumbs up. Then, switching back into the nurse hologram, he quietly exited the room.

Chuckling, she curled up in her pillow, and in a few moments, she was fast asleep.

* * *

**A/N: ** It's a short chapter, but a poignant one, I think. To me, Ferb strikes me someone (even in the canon series) who never wants to be seen as wrong, ever. He builds everything perfectly. He says concise, witty lines. People think he's perfect.

That's his fatal flaw. He depends too much on the opinion of others, which he considers as fact. So this scene is important because it shows that someone, especially someone like his wounded sister, thinks he isn't wrong. And that has a profound impact on him. He hasn't overcome the flaw yet, but he is a step closer to embracing it. And the first step to solving a problem is acknowledging it's there.


	8. True Feelings Aren't Rational

**A/N:** In a later scene, I reference an old R&B song called "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." It's pretty well-known and hopefully many of you have already heard it (and by that I mean VERY WELL KNOWN SO YOU BETTER KNOW IT AND LOVE IT), but to enhance the experience of the scene, I recommend listening to the song as you read that part. Here is a link (add www . youtube . com without the spaces to the front): watch?v=Xz-UvQYAmbg

* * *

"Sit down and eat something, Phineas," said Evelyn reassuringly, gesturing to a chair next to her at the fold-up table near their blankets. "You haven't eaten in a while."

"It's been three days," Phineas muttered while pacing back and forth. "Three days! Feels like years. Where is Ferb?"

"He's probably doing something important," said Evelyn, finally accepting that Phineas was not going to sit down. She bit into her sandwich and chewed slowly while Phineas kept pacing.

"Why didn't he take me along, then?" he asked himself in a frenzy. "I mean, I know he wouldn't just leave me; he has nowhere else to go, and he wouldn't do that. But what is he doing?"

"He is wishing that this sandwich had more mustard," said Ferb, who had just snuck in and taken a bite out of Phineas' sandwich.

"Wait, what?" Evelyn blinked, taken aback. "How did you…"

"Hey, that's my sandwich!" Phineas shouted indignantly. Then he registered the presence of his brother.

"Ferb!" he yelled, tackling him in a hug. "You jerk, where were you? Why didn't you let me know where you'd gone?"

"I had to take care of some business," he said quietly, and Phineas understood he meant Candace.

"She see you?" he mouthed. Ferb gave him a thumbs-up in response. Phineas smiled.

"That's my sis," he said proudly.

"But visiting your sister couldn't have taken three days," Evelyn pressed. "What else were you up to?"

Ferb sat up straight with an air of confidence. It was obvious that after his talk with Candace, he was feeling more like his old self. "I was looking for our invention in the park, but it wasn't there. Then, I found a recent newspaper with an article on the Anniversary Massacre." Phineas flinched.

"Oh, get over it, brother," Ferb said offhandedly. "It is what they call it. Anyway, they said that the police were conducting further investigations at the City Hall where they've stashed all of the evidence in an underground vault."

"So, our invention must be there as well," Phineas said with a sudden revelation.

"Exactly," said Ferb, snapping his fingers.

"But how are we going to get in?" Phineas asked, wringing his hands. "It's in one of the most highly guarded places in the Tri-State Area. We don't have any tools or supplies or anything. We don't even have any more sandwiches," Phineas added drily, glaring at Ferb, who had just finished the last crumbs of Phineas'. Ferb shrugged in apology.

"Anyway, we can't possibly break in," Phineas concluded.

"As much as I hate your dampening speech, you do have a point," Ferb scratched his chin.

Evelyn, who had been quiet throughout the brothers' conversation, suddenly spoke. "Maybe you don't have to break in?" she offered hesitantly.

The two turned to look at her. She almost shrank under their gaze, but stood her ground. "The Mayor's Day Festival, a few years ago… You built that machine that let you pass through solid objects. Why not just build that again?"

Ferb mused silently. "Hm… we could probably pull that off. The blueprints weren't too complicated, though there were some parts we might not be able to afford…"

"I'll take care of that," said Evelyn confidently. "Just write me a list and I can get them. A lot of people owe favors to me, and now seems like a good time to use them." She noticed Phineas staring at her. "What?"

"You remembered that invention from three years ago?" he wondered.

"Well, yeah, who wouldn't? It was one of the coolest things ever, and you were—" She stopped self-consciously. "I'm sorry. I know it's weird. But I—"

"How did you see the invention?" he asked.

"I knew your dad and mom were scheduled to be at the Festival, so…" Evelyn faltered, turning red. "I just showed up and stayed around. Just in case you showed up too."

"Well it's a lucky thing you did," Ferb broke their awkward exchange with a light laugh. Having already written her a list of the necessary materials for the machine during their chat, he handed it to her. "How fast can you get these?"

"Pretty fast, I can fast... I mean I can get them pretty fast," she said, quickly getting up and almost overturning the table. "I'll get them. Now. Fast."

She ran swiftly into one of the tunnels leading out. Ferb patted Phineas, who was still looking at where Evelyn had disappeared. "You all right there, bro?"

"How did we get so lucky? I mean, she didn't have to care about us at all," Phineas remarked softly. "She didn't owe us anything. And here she is, getting us building supplies and giving us food and keeping us company… I'm just a little perplexed is all."

"Sometimes, people do nice stuff like that for no rational reason," Ferb explained with a sigh. _Here we go,_ he thought wryly to himself. "You're right, it's irrational that she would expend so much energy to help us. But she has an irrational reason, and it's love."

"Love?" Phineas repeated. "You mean… she loves us?"

"Well, just you," said Ferb, chuckling as he lay down on his blanket. "But yeah."

Phineas shook his head slowly. "There is absolutely no logical reason why she should love us—me. She doesn't know me. We've never met. I think you're joking. It's crazy."

"That's the thing, Phin," Ferb said, his eyes closed. "Love isn't logical. Love isn't rational. It is crazy. That's why it's so special."

"But—"

"Stop trying to think about it and just feel it," Ferb ordered. "Now let me sleep."

With a sigh, Phineas sat down hard on his blanket. Ferb smiled and settled onto his back.

_Next step: getting him to notice that Isabella loves him,_ he thought lazily before drifting off into a dreamless slumber.

* * *

Three days. Or years, it felt. Isabella couldn't believe she had even survived that long.

With a sigh, Isabella sat down hard on her bed. She clutched her phone in one hand, her hope for a call from Phineas slowly dwindling with every minute. The phone felt heavy in her palm. She felt like chucking it at the wall, and then punching the wall until she broke through the plaster, or her bones. Whatever happened first.

_That pain would feel less excruciating than the pain I've been feeling for the past three days._

She glanced outside the window and winced at the beautiful setting sun. It was as though it was taunting her, taking its sweet time to cast rays of beautiful colors over the fading sky and evoke nostalgic, bittersweet memories of the past.

_I don't want beautiful colors. I don't want bittersweet memories. I just want to stop feeling._

_But I can't._

Unconsciously, she rose and began pacing around her room, voicing her thoughts in a swirl of anguish.

"Why do I still defend him? Everyone else is right. I have no reason to believe that he's innocent. He left me with a broken invention and a broken heart. I have to stop thinking about him," she said in a turmoil.

She switched on her old-timey stereo player (which Phineas had given to her for her thirteenth birthday) and absent-mindedly put in a mixed cassette tape of old classics from the sixties and seventies that she and Phineas both loved. Immediately, a smooth guitar riff came on and Marvin Gaye belted out the opening lines of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," one of their favorite songs.

"GAHHH!" she cried, tossing herself onto her bed again. Everything she tried to do was somehow connected to Phineas.

_It wouldn't be so bad if I just could stop caring, _she seethed silently. But at the same time, she felt a surge of empathy for the boys._ Where are they now? Are they okay? Do they have somewhere to sleep? Or someone to give them even the smallest bit of support?_

She let the music wash over her, the simple, plaintive melody wracking wave after wave of emotion through her body. Finally, she sighed. "You called my bluff, Phineas. I do still love you. I'm just blinded by the fact that you kinda left me for good. I know it's not your fault, but… I just feel like I've been ripped to shreds. And caring about you hurts. What do I do?" she asked calmly.

As she listened to Tammi Terrell banter with Gaye with the last verse – "My love is alive, way down in my heart, although we are miles apart…" "If you ever need a helping hand, I'll be there on the double as fast as I can" – she couldn't help but feel as though Phineas was somehow responding to her too, letting her know that everything would turn out okay.

She smiled as the song started to fade away, but the chords lingered in the air – only to be interrupted by the door ringing.

Recovering quickly from the initial shock, Isabella bounded down the stairs three at a time, hardly containing her excitement. Could it really be, that playing that magical song had somehow conjured him to her door?

She flung the restricting wooden obstacle out of her way, and disappointedly came face-to-face with not Phineas, but another familiar triangle-shaped person.

"Thaddeus," she said in a quiet voice full of annoyance. "Where's your glasses? Break them after losing in a fight?"

"Hello, Isabella," he said graciously, ignoring her jab.

"Can't say it's a pleasure, considering last time you tried to visit me and my friends, you only wanted to make them look bad," she quipped cynically.

"Oh please, Isabella, that was three years ago," Thaddeus laughed gracefully, running his hair through his now neatly trimmed hair. "I was twelve. I don't hold petty grudges any more."

"Then what do you want," Isabella said flatly.

"I just moved into my aunt's right across the street, and my brother Thor and I are staying over at there for a while. We're hosting a block party tonight," he explained, jamming his hands into the back pockets of his navy blue cargo shorts. "Just was wondering if you and your family could come. My brother and I are showcasing a special invention for the neighborhood's entertainment." He leaned in with a small smile. "Don't tell anyone, but it's a really cool thing that'll project a virtual image of you into space, so it'll feel like you're actually up there."

"I don't think Danville needs any more inventions after what happened three days ago," said Isabella flatly. She moved to shut the door, but Thaddeus caught it with his foot.

"So sorry to hear about that," he said with genuine sorrow. "I hope Phineas and Ferb are all right. I don't believe that one of their inventions could do something as horrific or implausible as shooting real bullets at people."

"Yeah right," Isabella snorted. "I'm sure you do."

"I don't believe it," Thaddeus repeated seriously, looking straight into her eyes. She examined his face scrupulously, and found no sarcasm or mockery.

"Listen, Isabella, I've changed," he said earnestly. "I'm not the same guy I was three years ago. Back then I was crazy, and arrogant, and weak. But I'm not like that now." He extended his hand. "Can you get over that time?"

All thoughts about Phineas gone from her mind, Isabella eyed him warily; eventually, she shook the outstretched hand. She quickly pulled her hand away and made a point of wiping it on her skirt.

Thaddeus, however, only laughed at the gesture. "So I'll see you and your mom tonight?" he called as he walked away. "Everyone will be there."

Isabella had run out of cutting remarks, so she let out a defiant "Maybe!" and slammed the door shut.

Turning towards kitchen, Isabella called, "Mom, we're free tonight, right?"

"Why yes, Isa. Who was that at the door just now?" Vivian responded.

"It was Thaddeus," Isabella said as she walked up the stairs.

"Thaddeus?" Vivian glanced at her strangely. "That conversation was almost five minutes long! I thought you said you would never speak to him ever again?"

Isabella turned around and, leaning against the wall, looked at the door. "Well, three years can change people," she said with a smile. "Maybe he isn't so bad after all."

* * *

As soon as Thaddeus heard the door slam shut, he stealthily bounded back up the stairs to Isabella's house. He dug through his pockets and took out two small, metal buttons, one of which he pressed to the door and one of which he put in his left ear. Immediately, he could hear the conversation inside that Isabella was having with her mother.

"Thaddeus? That conversation was almost five minutes long! I thought you said you would never speak to him ever again?"

"Well, three years can change people. Maybe he isn't so bad after all."

Thaddeus could tell Isabella was smiling as she said that last line. He grinned maniacally. Quickly removing the hearing device and wheeling around to head back home, he pulled out his phone and punched in his brother's number.

"Hello, Thor. I'm pleased to tell you that Phase two of The Destruction is up and running," he laughed darkly. "What? No, no troubles at all. I told you she would be as gullible as the rest. Let's start getting the machine ready for tonight. This won't be difficult."

* * *

**A/N: **Another one?! Stop boring us with your words and give us more story!

No, but seriously - I'm not that familiar with FF, so I didn't realize that it's courtesy to respond to reviews in the story. But I will start doing that now.

From the last chapter:

**The-Snowy-Owl13 - **Thank you! I'm glad you liked that particular scene. I thought that it would be necessary after all of the darker chapters before it.

**Hyper-Blossom Z - **They are indeed! But it's hard to maintain that support, especially when everyone around you and even the emotions inside of you are blinding your thinking.


	9. The Heist, part 1

**A/N:**No notes here. Just want to say, though - things are gonna start to get a little exciting from now on, both emotion-wise and action-wise. Starting with this chapter. Ohhhh yeah.

Also, I don't own Family Guy. Whoops.

* * *

_Later that night…_

Phineas and Ferb stared at the City Hall, the silhouette looming before them in the twilight sky of dusk.

"You do realize we are breaking about a gazillion federal laws to do this?" asked Phineas.

"Yup," was Ferb's terse reply. He was too focused on making sure every minute detail of the phasing machine was perfect to elaborate more.

"We are going to hack into the City Hall's security – one of the most complex in the nation, I might add – and shut down the laser guided alert system. We are going to find – without a map or any directions of the sort – the exact location where our invention is being held in one of the hundreds of underground vault rooms. And we will do this all while bypassing dozens of guards with military combat experience and guns, _who must be able to see us at all times while we're in the building_." Phineas grabbed his brother's shoulders. "And all we're planning to do is see if this anomaly shooter is still there if we turn it on? That's it? Do you know how crazy this sounds?"

"No, Phin," said Ferb, grinning. "We're taking back what is rightfully ours."

Phineas snorted as he approached the cable box panel on the side of the building. "You mean the invention?" he said, holding a black light to the glowing pad of numbers on the lock and analyzing the fingerprints under the UV light.

"Yes, the invention," said Ferb impatiently. "Hurry up."

"I'm being careful, bro," said Phineas defensively, still studying the number pad. "This is a booby trap. If you press one wrong number, it sends out a paralyzing electric shock. Not as forgiving as an iPhone."

"Oh," said Ferb.

Phineas finally punched in a seven-digit code, and the panel swung open with a hiss. He grinned at his brother and pretended to parade around the panel. "Eh? Eh?" he crowed.

"Hurry up," said Ferb, laughing with relief.

"Patience you must have, my young padawan," Phineas joked as he began disassembling some wires. He inserted a small red computer chip (courtesy of Evelyn) to which he added a few tweaks. "Why do we even want the invention?"

"Because someone might tamper with the evidence and make it seem indubitable that we were the killers," said Ferb, tapping his foot as he looked as his watch.

"Whoa, big word alert," said Phineas. Sparks flew from the box as he ripped out a few more cords. "Ouch! Also, wouldn't people think that we would tamper with the evidence if we took it?"

"That's why we need to make sure the guards can see us," Ferb replied. "If we can ensure that the anomaly shooter was a freak accident or the work of someone trying to frame us, we need a way to make sure they know we haven't done anything to it. And the guards and whatever security cameras they have will be our witnesses."

"I still think this is insane," said Phineas, inserting five more computer chips – orange, blue, silver, green, and purple – of his own design. "But it makes sense. In a weird, nonsensical sort of way."

"Are you done yet?" said Ferb, observing his brother's hands flying across the circuitry board. "Do you need help?"

"Just keep watch for a couple more seconds," Phineas grinned as he worked. "Remember _I _was the one who took that crazy course on circuitry and computers last summer… there!"

He pushed a red button inside the box and swung the panel shut. "Man, they'll rue the day they left this cable box out here," Phineas laughed.

"C'mon," Ferb insisted. "The door should be unlocked, but it'll lock in exactly one minute—"

"See, I thought about your original plan, and then I was like, nahhh," Phineas said nonchalantly. He motioned towards the huge main door, which had just swung wide open. The _EXIT_ sign now glowed _WELCOME._ "I added a little spice," Phineas grinned.

"Phineas, this is just a cable box," Ferb gaped. "How on earth…"

"First rule of thumb about circuitry, bro," Phineas laughed, running towards the stairs. "Anything is possible."

Ferb still gaped at his brother.

"Okay, you got me," said Phineas, putting up his hands defensively. "That's not what they say. It's just something I made up on the spot. They don't actually have a rule of thumb; I'm just pretty good with wires and stuff."

Ferb still gaped at his brother.

"Bro. We need to hurry," said Phineas impatiently. "The guards only take so long to switch positions. Our window of opportunity is slim."

With that, Ferb broke out of his trance and followed Phineas inside.

* * *

"That was pretty amazing, Phin," he breathed, resting against the body of an unconscious guard. "You opened the computerized lock on the door… and turned off the security system in the foyer of City Hall… from a cable box."

The two had made it inside with just enough time to hide themselves behind the main desk; a few seconds later, the guard appeared from a door at the end of the foyer. He sat down at the desk, and Ferb quickly immobilized him with hits to the groin and temple.

"Now it's your turn to lead, bro," said Phineas, whistling at the guard's current condition. "Sure hope that guy's okay. So, what next?"

"We need to get to that elevator at make it down to the 'Secret Vault' floor level," Ferb stated authoritatively. "But that's just a ruse. From there, there's another elevator that leads to six more floors with five vault-rooms on each level.

Usually, the bigger vaults are on lower levels, so they'll probably have our invention on the bottom floors. Once we find which room it's in, we need to alert the guards of our presence before we enter the room, so that there's no chance they could accuse us of tampering with the evidence. We need to then use our phasing machine to make it in and out of City Hall alive."

"Question. How are we going to see which room has the invention, without actually breaking into the vault?" Phineas asked.

Ferb smiled and brandished a pair of X-Ray Glasses they had made years ago. "Voilà," he said proudly.

"Awesome!" Phineas crowed. "When did you get them?"

"While you were prepping the computer chips, I went back to our house and got these really quickly," Ferb said.

Phineas' smile dropped. "You saw Mom and Dad then?"

Ferb started to say something, then turned away. A tear flowed down his cheek, glistening in the eerie glow of the neon _EXIT _signs.

"What? What happened?" Phineas pressed in a quivering voice. "What did you see?"

Ferb glanced at his watch, then began to speak.

* * *

_Several hours earlier…_

"Lawrence, dear, what's the matter?" said Linda. "You haven't touched your plate of fried chicken. And it's all right if you say it isn't good, because it's takeout."

"Honey, we were too harsh on the boys," Lawrence said. Linda was taken aback at the amount of sorrow flowing out of his voice.

"I know," she whispered. "I've been thinking about it too."

"No, you don't understand," Lawrence insisted. "I am Ferb's father. He is of my flesh. He's the only son of my blood I've ever had.

"And I called him a killer, when he wasn't a killer. I called him a fault, when he wasn't a fault. The last words I said were that he was 'dangerous.' The boy wouldn't have hurt a fly, let alone his sister. Of course he didn't kill her. She's fine and recovering well… but I still lost children that day."

He turned to Linda with bloodshot eyes. "And here we sit, alone. Here we have sat for the past three days with all three of our children missing. One of them almost died. And two of them could die at any moment. What kind of parents are we? How do you think I feel?"

She moved to sit next to him at the table and put her head on his shoulder. "Exactly how I feel," she choked out.

The two began to cry.

It was dark outside. The only light was from the lightbulb overhead. It tried halfheartedly to reach the picture of the entire Flynn-Fletcher family behind Linda and Lawrence, but they blocked the light's path, casting a shadow over the once happy family.

* * *

Phineas began to cry.

"Stop it!" Ferb commanded, partially because he didn't want to be overhead and partially because he knew that eventually he would begin to cry too.

"You saw that?" Phineas whispered. "As you were getting the glasses?"

"As I was just about to slip out of the side wall using the phasing machine," Ferb said soberly.

A few moments passed before Phineas' sobs subsided. "We gotta go back to them," he muttered. "Gotta let them know we're okay." He stood up and turned towards the door.

"Phineas!" Ferb hissed angrily. "Get your act together!"

"No, _you_ get _your_ act together," said Phineas. Ferb noticed with alarm that he was visibly shaking. "I can't go on like this, Ferb. I need my parents. And they need me. I don't care what you say."

"Phin, be reasonable," Ferb pleaded. "Think about our plan!"

"Take a taste of your own medicine, _bro,_" Phineas replied harshly, his voice echoing in the empty foyer. "Stop thinking and start feeling."

Ferb took a deep breath. "Phineas, I'm not going to fight with you," Ferb said calmly. "But you know that now is not the time to feel. Now is the time to think."

"Oh yeah?" Phineas yelled back.

During the brothers' argument, the walkie-talkie on the unconscious guard's body crackled with static. "Powers. Status check," said a clipped growl. The walkie-talkie automatically clicked into the receiving mode.

"And why is now not the time to think, brother of mine?" Phineas said caustically.

"Oh boy," said Ferb, eyes wide as he saw the blinking light on the walkie-talkie.

The walkie-talkie crackled to life. "Units three and four, move to the foyer. Powers is unresponsive. It looks like we have an intruder," the voice said grimly. Seconds later, six guards burst into the hall, clearly brandishing their machine guns. "Intruder! Stop what you're doing and put your hands up! Now!" one of them barked, approaching the desk.

"Phineas, now would _really _be a good time to start thinking," Ferb said in a clipped voice, crouching behind the wooden desk. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Phineas finally broke out of his emotional trap, and much to Ferb's chagrin, a grin slowly formed on his face again.

"Oh, this'll be good," he laughed softly, taking out a small panel with a silver button and a joystick on it. "You just stay down, bro." Phineas stood up from behind the desk and waved his arms. "Hey, guards!"

The guards immediately locked their sights on him. "Intruder! Put down your weapon and kneel where we can see you with your hands behind your head!" a guard shouted.

"But it's not a weapon," Phineas insisted. "It's way cooler."

"Intruder, we will give you a count to three before we open fire unless you drop your weapon and kneel where we can see you with your hands behind your head!"

Phineas smiled. Three seconds was all he needed.

He pushed the silver button.

* * *

_That night…_

"Wow, this place looks amazing," Isabella oohed as she entered the backyard of Thaddeus and Thor's aunt's house. Streamers sparkling with light were strung across the trees and a massive line of tables piled high with every food and drink imaginable spilled out of the yard into the street. In the middle of the street, a large structure the size of a house was blocking the road. People milled around everywhere, talking and laughing. Isabella found it hard to imagine that these were the same people who less than a week ago had suffered the trauma of a shooting.

"Isabella! How are you feeling?" Ginger squealed, running up to her.

"Ginger? You're here?" Isabella asked. "Who else is here?"

"Basically everyone in the city! Just kidding," Ginger laughed at Isabella's bugging eyes. "But everyone we know is here! Looks like Thaddeus is really starting to make his way around Danville, huh?"

"Yeah, he's only been here for like three days, and already he knows a ton of people," Stacy said as she approached the two girls.

"Stacy!" Isabella said guiltily. She took a breath to continue speaking, but Stacy stopped her.

"Look, Isabella. I'm sorry about what happened in the car a few days ago. I was feeling freaked out and said some stuff I shouldn't have. Also, leaving you outside in the rain was kind of a jerk move."

"You think?" Ginger snorted. Stacy glared at her.

"No, it's really my fault," said Isabella, shaking her head. "I've just been going through a hard time too. It's like I really want to hate Phineas, but I miss him so much at the same time. You know?"

"Well, maybe it's time to move on," said Stacy, glancing at Thaddeus. "One triangle-headed guy for another. What do you think?"

"Stacy!" Isabella gasped in mock horror. The three girls laughed.

"All I'm saying is, he's kinda cute," Ginger said slyly.

"Cute?" Isabella gagged. "Ginger, please. Saying that Baljeet is cute is enough, don't you think?"

"But seriously, look at his hair when you get the chance," said Katie, approaching Isabella and giving her a quick hug in greeting. "It gives him… that dreamy look."

"And his eyes…" Ginger swooned, only half-joking.

"You girls are out of your minds," laughed Isabella, gesturing with her bowl of matzahlsa. "Where should I set this down?"

"Over here is fine," a voice pierced through the din of the crowd. Isabella turned towards the end of the table and almost fell over. Ginger and Katie were right; or was it that she found all triangle-headed guys cute? She gaped at him, unable to say anything.

He flashed a smile and jogged over to her. "Let me take this," he said, taking her bowl. "What is this? Matzo balls in salsa?"

"Yeah, it's something we do at my house," said Isabella offhandedly. "Mix foods from different cultures."

"Sometimes the most different things, or people, do come into the best harmony," Thaddeus said thoughtfully.

Isabella shoved him. "Already making a move on me?" she quipped.

Thaddeus laughed as he set down the bowl on the table. "'Course not," he replied. "Just saying that this matzo-salsa—"

"Matzahlsa," Isabella corrected him.

"Matzahlsa, sorry," he said, popping one into his mouth. "Just saying that this matzahlsa is amazing."

"Made it myself," Isabella said proudly.

"A good cook always does have a lot of sass," Thaddeus pondered.

"Thanks—wait, what was that?"

"Nothing," he said quickly.

"You just said I have a lot of sass!" Isabella said indignantly. "That was pretty mean."

"Like how you yourself said all I wanted to do was make people look bad?"

"It's partially true!" Isabella said defensively.

"_Was _partially true," said Thaddeus, smiling. "Here, I have something I wanna show you."

Reluctantly, Isabella followed him towards the black house-like structure in the middle of the street.

Some distance away, Ginger, Katie, and Stacy were watching the scene with Thaddeus and Isabella unfold.

"Uh oh, looks like it's getting a little too hot in here for them," Katie giggled as she watched the two walk into the black structure.

"Don't you think Thor's kinda hunky, too?" said Ginger.

"Nah," Stacy scoffed. "His big nose makes him look like the dog from Family Guy."

"Brian's kinda hunky," said Ginger defensively. The three laughed and went to enjoy some of the food.

* * *

"This isn't like one of those horror movies where you kidnap me and lock me up in a torturing room, right?" Isabella interrogated Thaddeus in the pitch-black room. She looked around, fighting off the small shivers of fear up her spine.

"You tell me," came his reply. Isabella heard the _thump _of a heavy switch and immediately, she found herself standing in… outer space.

"AHHHH!" she screamed, flailing her arms as she ran around space. "This is _so much worse_! Get me down! Get me down!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey, calm down," Thaddeus reassured her, restraining her with a bear hug. "I told you, it's a machine that projects yourself into outer space. You're still on Earth."

Isabella took a few tentative steps around, accustoming her brain to walking on nothing. After her vertigo had subsided, she could actually appreciate the exotic beauty of outer space. She began dancing around the stars, laughing in wonderment at the beauty of the infinite twinkles of red, blue, yellow, and white light.

She heard the snap of a camera shutter and whirled around to see Thaddeus smiling at his phone screen. "Did you just take a picture of me without me knowing?" she demanded. "That's not creepy at all."

"Look," he said simply, showing her the picture. She squinted and saw herself with the first smile on her face in forever, her eyes shining and her face glowing like an angel in the starlight as she reached up for a twinkling star.

It was the first time she had seen herself happy in forever.

"See? I don't just make people look bad," Thaddeus said softly. "I can make people look good. And you look really good. You look beautiful."

She stared at him. Thaddeus was surprisingly the first person to make her feel happy since Phineas left. He stared back. They slowly moved closer to each other and he caressed her arm…

…when the door burst open and Thor came tumbling in, the star projection automatically shutting off as he did. Thaddeus stomped over to his brother and shook him.

"This had better be good," he growled.

"They found them," said Thor quietly.

"Who?" Isabella asked, her arms crossed.

Thor glanced at both of them. "Phineas and Ferb," he said slowly.

* * *

Oh yeah. Now we're cookin' with gas.

Please review! They are always super awesome to receive and read. Your thoughts really matter to me.

**UPDATE: **Forgot to respond to the kind reviews from chapter 8. I told you, I'm new at this. Please be patient.

**The-Snowy-Owl13:** Very deep! Hahaha. But yes, that's one part of the mystery. One very small part. :)

**Hyper-Blossom Z: **You're pretty spot on, but it's hard for even Thaddeus to break every law of physics imaginable and turn holograms into real people and real bullets. It gets a little more devilish than that.


	10. The Heist, part 2

"Sir, we're giving you a count to three," warned the lead guard, signaling for the other guards to flank Phineas from the side.

"I wouldn't do that," Phineas sang. "It'll hurt a lot more…"

"I'm sorry?" the guard laughed.

"Phineas, stop with the theatrics and get on those guards!" Ferb hissed.

"The elevator's not on this floor yet," Phineas hissed back, pointing at the elevator at the end of the hall

"What does the elevator have to do with anything?" Ferb asked harshly.

"It's everything," Phineas said hurriedly. "I need to distract them for a bit longer."

"Who are you talking to?" the guard barked.

"Leave that to me," Ferb hissed to Phineas. To Phineas' great surprise, he climbed up onto the desk.

"Ferb, what're you—"

"Late-night guards of City Hall!" Ferb bellowed, stretching his arms out wide like a preacher. At once, the six guards stopped moving, so fixated were they on Ferb's magnificent, deep voice. Even Phineas could not finish his question because he was in sheer awe.

"I welcome you to your final night of ignorance!" Ferb cried passionately. "For days you have imagined us as ruthless killers, our brutal and unforgiving image no doubt hyped by countless sources of media. But tonight, I present to you with the truth!"

The elevator at the end of the hall dinged, signaling it was on the floor they were on. Phineas snapped out of his spell for long enough to push the silver button again.

Immediately, as if an invisible hand grabbed them and pulled them back, all six guards tumbled at lightning speed towards the elevator. They were hurled into the metal doors with a sickening _thud_.

Ferb jumped down and, approaching them, continued. "We are not your killers. We are not killers at all. We could have killed you just now!"

"No, we couldn't have, Ferb," Phineas muttered, following his brother. "I only converted the elevator into a temporary magnet. Unless a gun went off while they got caught in the magnetic force – and the probability of that is—"

"But we didn't!" Ferb cried, ignoring his brother. "Before you I and my brother stand! We only act in self-defense; an attempt to save ourselves from your deadly gunfire is our only crime!"

He reached the guards and stood over them defiantly. "I say unto you with the utmost confidence: Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher are INNOCENT!"

Suddenly, the men lurched upward, still stuck to the wall. They swiftly slid up the doors until they knocked against the ceiling. Ferb whirled around to see Phineas let go of the joystick and press the silver button again. Suddenly, the guards fell to the floor. All six were unconscious.

"That oughta get their attention," Phineas mused.

"What the heck was that, Phin?" Ferb shouted.

In shock at Ferb's sudden tirade, Phineas stumbled over his words. "Well… I, uh… I made sure they're unconscious," he stammered.

"By killing them?" Ferb yelled.

"They're not dead," Phineas argued. "They're not… right?"

Ferb quickly checked all of the guards' pulses. "Phineas, you can't just do wild, unplanned stuff like that," he muttered. "If you're going to go all Rambo on the guards with your invention, you need to let me know."

"Oh, yeah. Well, I'm sorry that I didn't pull you over for a minute or two just now after your little theatrics and announce my every plan in great detail to you," Phineas spat.

"You could have at least mentioned to me that you planned to slam the guards into the ceiling earlier!" Ferb finally exploded. "What if someone died?"

"You gotta trust me a bit," Phineas chuckled humorlessly.

"How about you stop letting people trust you and you start trusting people?" Ferb countered.

"This is stupid," Phineas muttered. He fiddled with another panel, this one with an orange button and touchscreen.

"This is not stupid," Ferb reprimanded harshly.

"Yes it is! Maybe I don't want to trust you when you're just mouthing off to guards who are still conscious and holding guns!" Phineas suddenly yelled. "Think about that! I could have just saved your life just now."

"You're missing the point, Phin," Ferb said calmly. "I trust you; I do. But you gotta trust me too."

"I do trust you," Phineas managed through his clenched with difficulty.

"Then please let me know before you pull a crazy stunt like that!" Ferb exclaimed.

"Okay," Phineas said, taking a deep breath. "Let's just take a moment to breathe a bit, okay? Calm out thoughts, plan our next move—"

"There they are!" a voice shouted. Six more guards rushed into view from a door at the end of the foyer. One guard fired a bullet, but the lead guard barked, "No! We take them alive." On command, the guards rushed towards the boys, brandishing their Tasers.

"Trust me," said Ferb, grabbing Phineas' arm and pulling out a spherical object from his pocket. There was no time for an explanation.

"Wha—" was all Phineas was able to manage before Ferb wrenched his arm away and jumped headfirst into the metal elevator doors.

* * *

It was the same car as when the five kids were driving to the hospital, except this time, Thaddeus and Thor had replaced Buford. Even from her front seat, where she didn't have to share the seats with three other people, Isabella liked Buford better. She silently thanked her luck that she had won the rock-paper-scissors game for riding shotgun.

"Kinda snug back here," Ginger muttered, her face pressed up against the window. "Also, this is illegal."

"Yeah," Katie agreed sullenly. "I didn't even want to go. I don't want to see those too."

"Can you drive any faster?" Thaddeus said, leaning over the side of Stacy's chair.

"You want me to break another law?" Stacy remarked sarcastically.

"Not speeding yet," Thor said quietly.

"Do you only talk in three-word sentences?" Katie asked drily, turning towards Thor next to her.

"You got it," Thor replied.

"Okay, that's starting to get annoying," she said.

"Sorry, really am," Thor replied.

Katie leaned over the side of Stacy's chair. "Can you drive any faster?"

Ignoring Thor's hurt expression, Isabella said, "They're right, Stacy. You can go a bit faster, if you want."

"We all know why you want to get there as fast as humanly possible," Stacy remarked snidely.

Isabella remained silent, feeling an odd mixture of guilt and ecstasy building up inside of her. She heard Thaddeus clear his throat behind her and turned around.

"Uh… why exactly do you want to get there as fast as humanly possible?" he asked uncomfortably. Isabella turned around without answering, afraid of the others' reaction to her question.

"To see Phineas, of course," Ginger said with a tired sigh.

"How can you still want to see him?" Thaddeus asked, his voice rising. Isabella detected a small note of desperation in his voice. "He left you! He tricked you and left you!"

Isabella stared at him. "Wait, I never told you about the letter. How could you—"

"She thinks Phineas is innocent," Katie said with a scoff.

"That's impossible!" Thaddeus cried. "How—"

The force of Isabella's glare stopped him mid-sentence.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "I'm speaking out of line. What you think is your own decision."

"Wow, you _have _changed a lot," Isabella wondered. He smiled, and she smiled back. Ginger rolled her eyes (no small feat when squashed against a window) and Katie let out an exasperated sigh. Noticing the annoyance of the other people in the car, Isabella and Thaddeus broke their little staring contest, looking away shyly.

"This is awkward," Thor commented.

"Thank you for that," Katie replied drily. "Mr. Four-words-is-too-many-to-handle."

Ignoring them, Isabella faced the front again. "It's not that I love him any more," she sighed. "At least, I'm pretty sure. I don't know. I'm pretty sure I don't know. How I feel about him. It's just… I want to see him again."

"Well, we're here." Stacy pulled the car to a stop at the end of the street. "This is as far as we can go. They've blocked up the front."

Ginger let out a low whistle as the kids took in the mass of people in front of the City Hall steps. Light flooded the area, pouring down from huge searchlights hanging off three helicopters circling the air above City Hall. Policemen had set up a barricade with portable fences and their police cars, but even as they barked order and brandished their batons at the horde, hundreds of Danville's citizens still threatened to spill over and overwhelm the entrance. A dozen S.W.A.T. team soldiers had surrounded the entrance in a semicircle.

"Wow, that's a lot of people," Ginger breathed.

Isabella jumped out of the car, but before she could dash over to the building, she felt a hand pull her arm back.

"Isabella, hold on a sec," Thaddeus said, his expression unclear. There was concern in his face, but Isabella sensed a hint of… malice? She shook clear her head as he continued. "We should probably go all together."

She looked at him crossly and tried to pull her arm away from Thaddeus' grasp.

"Please, be reasonable," he pleaded. "You never know what might be going on over there. I'd feel terrible if you were to get lost in the crowd and then somehow get hurt."

"Safety in numbers," Thor added.

After a few tense seconds, her muscles slackened. "C'mon, let's go then," she grumbled, quickly walking off, but not as quickly as she had been before.

Unbeknownst to everyone, Thaddeus quietly laughed as he followed Isabella towards the entrance of City Hall.

* * *

"AHHHH!" Phineas screamed as he and Ferb hurtled _through the wall._

Gravity pulled them down, and they fell in a graceful arc through floor after floor after floor. Phineas felt like retching. He briefly wondered if the vomit would be able to go through the floors as well. That would've been gross.

Then, suddenly, Phineas felt a jarring pain in his shoulder as the brothers ran into the ground.

"Wow," said Ferb, shaking his head as he stood up. He stowed the phasing machine, now turned off, into his pocket.

"What the hell, Ferb!" Phineas yelled, still hugging the ground. "What happened to letting me know before pulling a crazy stunt?!"

"Well, here we are," said Ferb. "One of the six secret vault floors. Not sure which one… I think we're at the second floor from the bottom?"

Phineas managed to prop himself up on his elbows without being overcome with nausea. "What the hell were you thinking?" he shouted. "What if we stopped in between a wall? What if we fell right through the entire building? There's a reason why there are ELEVATORS!"

"Not enough time," Ferb said. Phineas pulled on his hair and began letting out a pained noise, which Ferb disregarded and put on the X-Ray Glasses. He glanced around at the five doors in the hallway. "Hey! There it is! Our invention—"

"Oh, you mean this one?" Phineas shouted, a note of insanity in his voice. He dug the phasing machine out of Ferb's pocket, punched the "on" button, and threw it into the door that Ferb was pointing at. It disappeared into the door and the humming noise disappeared.

"You're right! That room _does _have our invention," Phineas laughed, his breath coming out in quick, short bursts. Then he froze, suddenly realizing what he had done.

"Okay, genius," Ferb seethed after a moment of silence. "Now how do we get in?"

* * *

**A/N:** A slightly shorter chapter, but the exciting end to the "Heist" chapter trilogy will come soon. As always, reviews are most appreciated.

Also, just to make sure - the phasing machine IS canon, and comes from the ep "Just Passing Through" from season 2.

**ThatRandomGuy99 - **We'll find out next chapter! Stay posted!

**Dreadwing216 - **Thanks! Glad you like the story.

**Hyper-Blossom Z - **We'll see how it plays out. Currently, it seems like they can't use their gadget right now, so it'll be interesting to see how they fare without it.

**MasterDuelistMichael - **Haha, yes. Although any epic music will do. Also, note that the brothers don't know anything about who framed them.

**Yarthayaj'knaushtavdhladleklwa - **1. No, they won't, and will likely never get into a fight. 2. No, she doesn't have any information that he would want.


	11. The Heist, part 3

"I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so sorry," Phineas repeated frantically as he paced in the hallway.

"'Sorry' doesn't cut it!" Ferb snapped, staring at the elevator in despair.

"I don't know what came over me," Phineas choked. "I don't know. Ferb, I can't do this alone…"

"I'm here," Ferb said, pretending to be hurt; Phineas didn't catch the joke.

"I know, but it's just…" Phineas shuddered. "I'm tired of running, Ferb."

"I am too," Ferb reassured. "But we need to fix this plan that you messed up before we can rest! How long until the guards can come down?"

Phineas ignored him. "I need my life back. I thought I could take on the world by myself, but I can't. I need my family. I need my friends."

A sudden change came over his features. His tight-lipped mouth dissolved into a wan smile. "We'd go back to making the most out of summer. We'll build something in our backyard. We'll see Buford and Baljeet and maybe the Fireside Girls enter through the gate." His eyes glazed over, as his smile widened. "And we'll hear someone say 'Whatcha doin' again in that sweet voice… She won't be mad any more, Isabella. She'll forgive me, she'll forgive us. We'll go back to the way it was…"

Ferb slapped his brother, who jolted out of his daydream with a start.

"That's the point, Phineas," Ferb said in a tired voice. "We can't go back to the way it was. Never."

Phineas crumpled to the floor, distraught. Ferb bent down on one knee and gently helped him up

"But if we keep staying positive and believe in ourselves, maybe we can make the future even better," Ferb said softly.

"But life was perfect back then," Phineas said, almost sobbing.

"Nothing is perfect, Phineas," Ferb sighed. "Not even us. I mean, look at you right now. And after I saw Candace, I realized that all my life I was obsessed with always being right. And that's wrong in itself.

"Face it, Phin. We're both flawed. Everyone has flaws. Everyone falls. But what matters is if we choose to overcome those flaws. If we choose to get back up after we fall."

Phineas struggled to his feet. "The, um… the g-guards upstairs," he mumbled. "The elevator's magnet should be preventing them from getting down to the lower vaults. I'd say we have a five-minute advantage over them, tops." He slipped, but caught himself with Ferb's steadying arm.

"Okay," said Ferb. "You've only used two of your six computer hacking chips. There are four left. What else can you cook up?"

Slowly, a grin formed on Phineas' face. Using the support of Ferb's shoulder, he stood erect and pulled out a panel with a green button and a microphone. "I think I know how to fix this," he said proudly.

Ferb put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "No, Phineas. I think you just fixed it already."

* * *

Two security officers had been spectating the entire course of events through the help of security cameras placed all over the building. One man was gaping at the screen as he watched Phineas and Ferb in the secret vault. The other was eating a pastry.

"Darn kids," said a man as he stared at the glowing security monitors. "They're clever. Cleverer than even our boys. Should we go help 'em out?"

"Nah, we're better helping that last squad we just sent from here," another man said, opening a box of pastries. He and another man next to him began to eat the baked goods inside. "Pastry?" he offered to the man at the monitors.

"No thanks, Larry," the man replied with a wave of his hand.

"So, Jim, how're you getting over that break-up?" man said as he munched on his cherry pastry.

"It wasn't a break-up, Donnie," Jim protested. "Clare had to move to the other side of the country."

"Yeah, because she fell in love with some other guy who happens to want to move to the East Coast too," said Larry, who was tucking into a cheese Danish. "Who, I might add, is also significantly richer than you. Though you are the better looking guy."

"I'm not sure if this is supposed to make me feel better or worse, Larry," Jim muttered, turning his attention to the security monitors. Suddenly, they emitted a loud, scratchy cacophony of sound and all of the screens blinked to gray static.

"What the…" Jim wheeled around to face Donnie. "Donnie, what the heck did you do?"

"This wasn't me, I swear!" Donnie shouted over the din.

"Then who did… What the…" Jim gasped as he stared at the screen. Donnie and Larry followed his gaze and promptly froze after seeing the image on the screen.

* * *

_POV of Camera 1. Full view down the length of the hallway._

Nine guards entered the dim long hallway and quickly filed out into formation.

"Stay on your guard," the lead soldier said, gesturing with his gun. "We've seen just how dangerous these boys are. Keep a close eye 'n' ear out an' watch your back. You are cleared and authorized to use your standard guns to incapacitate them."

But no sooner had they spread out and started looking around when they heard a muffled voice coming from the far end of the hallway. Three guards dashed over to the door at the end of the hallway, while the other six formed a tight semicircle around them. They listened intently, and could make out…

"Well, Ferb, looks we made it to our invention after all," said Phineas' muffled voice. There was a silence.

The lead guard held up his hand and all nine guards froze.

"Yeah, I hope they don't catch us in here with it now," Phineas' muffled voice added.

In one brusque motion, the lead soldier flicked his hand at the door. Immediately, the three eavesdropping guards shuffled back to make room for the six-man advance team, who began the complex decryption process each door was equipped with.

The lead guard looked at his watch. Only a few more seconds until the door would open

He never noticed that the voices behind the door stopped…

Phineas switched off the microphone on the green-button panel and burst into a silent fit of laughter, grabbing the sides of the narrow air vent for support. Focused but still bemused, Ferb couldn't help but share a quiet laugh with his brother.

"I can't believe they fell for that," Phineas chuckled quietly.

"I don't believe that you could hack into the underground vaults from just the cable box," Ferb pointed out as he crawled in front of Phineas towards the opening of the vent.

"The builders aren't _that _dumb," Phineas conceded as he followed Ferb. "I couldn't touch anything in these six lower levels."

He grinned. "But I could hack into a certain microphone system on the fake 'Secret Vault' level a few floors up. I jacked up the volume three thousand percent so that when I speak into the microphone from here, they think it's from in the room over there. Lucky break that the Secret Vault floor's directly above the room with our invention."

"But won't the main security headquarters be able to see that we're not into the room with our invention and call the security?" Ferb stopped suddenly.

"Oh, I got that," Phineas said, laughing again as he held up the panel with the orange button. "We don't have to worry about their headquarters. Or them seeing us in the cameras."

* * *

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Larry screamed over the low, pulsing music that was now playing in the security headquarters office.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god," Donnie muttered as he yanked the door handle. "It's locked! How did it lock from the inside? It's not even possible to do that!"

Jim was back up against the wall, silently crying as he stared at the screens.

A bald headed man with sunken black eyes and no irises, a bloodstained face, and razor-sharp teeth stared out of each monitor. A third of the bloody men looked at Larry, another third leered at Donnie, and the last third glowered at Jim. Each one carried a sledgehammer in their hands.

The scariest part was that each bloody man was hitting the monitor with the sledgehammer as they stared at the three security personnel. With each hit, real cracks appeared on the glass and the screen seemed to move inwards towards them.

"OH GOD," Donnie cried as he finally gave up on the door. He rushed to the monitors and tried to turn them off, but even when all of the power switches were flipped to the off position, the monitors stayed on. Each hit from the bloody man's hammer added to the intricate web of broken glass in the crack.

"What is happening?!" Larry screamed.

One by one, they collapsed onto the floor with terror.

* * *

"You did what?" Ferb asked, stunned.

"You know me," Phineas chuckled. "I like to have a little fun. Plus those guys got on my bad side when they sicced those guards on us."

"That is terrifying," Ferb muttered. "Remind me to never get on your bad side again."

Through the walls of the metal vent, they heard the creak of the vault door as the guards finally opened the complicated lock.

"It's time," Phineas said abruptly, his voice hardening. "Let's go."

They quickly scuttled through the vent and gently took out the grate without making a noise.

* * *

_POV of Camera 2. View from inside the vault room._

"F, Z, P," barked the lead guard as the other five guards snaked past him into the huge room. "Stay on guard outside the doorway."

"Yes sir," they said, forming a V that blocked the doorway.

The remaining six guards (the leader and five other guards) cautiously encircled the room for a few seconds. The room was vast; it could easily have fit a swimming pool, and a Jacuzzi to boot. The robust lights glared off the completely spick-and-span white walls, having almost a blinding effect on the men, who squinted at each other as they looked around. The only objects in the room were the box-like invention and a strange spherical metallic thing, which lay resting by the side of the invention. Other than that, the room was empty. They slackened their grips on their guns and looked around.

"Where were the voices coming from?" one of the guards wondered aloud.

Suddenly, bolts of electricity arced over the three guards shielding the doorway. They trembled and collapsed to the floor. Then, everything turned black, and the sound of the lock on the door resounded throughout the room as the door to the vault slammed shut.

* * *

_No POV_

Phineas and Ferb swiftly flicked off all of the switches to the room as soon as the three guards had been cleared out of the way. They slipped into the room and while Ferb analyzed the position of their hologram invention, guided by the thin light from the doorway, Phineas slammed the door shut. Ferb had just enough time to memorize the path around the guards to the invention before the room went completely dark.

While Ferb weaved around the guards, who were now shouting and barking orders and whirling around in confusion, Phineas took a few moments to catch his breath and think about the next steps of their escape he needed to complete.

Ferb was to reach the hologram invention and their phasing machine and be ready to activate the latter as soon as he could. At that moment, Phineas would then have to turn on the lights and dash over to Ferb. When he was in the range of the phasing machine, Ferb was to turn it on, thus making him, Phineas, and the invention intangible and virtually invincible. Then, they would turn on the invention and ensure that the anomaly shooter was not actually real. Having accomplished that, they would easily make their way out (or through, rather) to outside of the building and demonstrate their innocence to the crowd outside.

Phineas knew he was taking the more dangerous role. During the window of time between the light in the room being turned back on and when Ferb turned on the phasing machine, he would be vulnerable to the guards' weapons. He needed to move fast in order to avoid being shot.

Phineas heard the whirring noise of the phasing machine being turned on, Ferb's signal that he was ready for Phineas to turn on the light. Phineas sucked in a deep breath, mustered all the courage he could, and turn on the light.

Immediately, he was blinded by the glare, but managed to see Ferb in the middle of the room directly in his line of vision. He raced towards the machine, quickly closing the distance between the him and invincibility…

Then, he felt a hot flash of pain explode in his side and gasped. He vaguely made out a guard aiming a gun at him. Clutching the right side of his abdomen, he tripped. Luckily, he was close enough to Ferb to roll into the range of the phasing machine. Ferb punched it on and Phineas felt a tingling sensation in his torso. He looked down and saw the blur of another bullet pass through his stomach.

"Thanks," he whispered to Ferb. Wincing, he leaned back against the hologram invention

"Are you okay?" Ferb said, alarm creeping into his voice as he noticed Phineas clutching his side, blood trickling out through his fingers.

Bullets whizzed through them, but the phasing machine was doing its job; they ripped through the brothers and the invention harmlessly.

"Fine," Phineas muttered, staring at his own bloodied hands. "Nothing vital hit. Turn on the machine."

Ferb hesitated, so Phineas moved to turn on the hologram machine himself, wincing as he did so. Immediately, the room burst to life as holographic people in frontiersmen garb appeared, shooting one another with muskets. Thinking that the frontiersmen's muskets were real, guards dove on the ground for cover, giving Phineas and Ferb time to thoroughly scan the room.

It was obvious that there was one hologram missing.

"The shooter from the Anniversary," Ferb breathed. "He's not there."

"We're innocent," Phineas coughed out. "Hip hip hooray. Can we leave now?"

"Phineas, I told you nothing went wrong!" Ferb shouted with newfound energy. He grabbed Phineas' shoulders with a huge smile of relief. "We're innocent! We can prove that we didn't shoot those people!"

"Great, now let's get out of here, Sherlock," Phineas said drily. He began pushing the machine but almost collapsed.

"That wound looks pretty serious," Ferb said, his tone changing abruptly from excitement to fear.

"Well, it's a good thing we're invincible now, right?" he said, managing a smile. A bullet zoomed right through his face, startling Ferb. "C'mon, bro. Let's get outta here."

Indeed, the guards were realizing that the holograms did not pose a real threat and had rejoined in their effort to take down the boys, but the bullets still passed harmlessly through them. Dust billowed into the air as the bullets peppered the concrete and metal walls of the vault, making it hard to see. The guards were becoming bolder and started advancing closer to the boys. Ferb nodded to his brother. It was indeed time to get out.

With Ferb supporting Phineas, the two brothers began their tired yet triumphant exodus out of the depths of the vault. They quickly passed through the door with no problem, leaving the guards shouting inside. Stepping over (or through, rather) the unconscious guards outside, they slowly pushed themselves and the invention down the hall.

"Amazing noise cancellation those vaults have, huh," Phineas joked. Ferb smiled. The quiet of the hallway _was _a welcome relief from the gunfire and shouts from inside the vault.

Just then, the elevator dinged and five more guards streamed out. Noticing the boys, they whipped out their guns and began firing. But they continued their march unaffected and walked straight through the guards and into the elevator. As they walked closer, the guards ceased to fire their guns and stood rooted in awe, shocked by the realization that the boys were virtually invincible, not even bothering to try and stop the boys as they entered the elevator. Automatically, the elevator doors closed, again leaving behind the guards.

Ferb cautiously turned off the machine long enough to push the button to the fake "Secret Vault" floor. Once they reached that floor, they walked to the other elevator and headed up to the lobby.

During this time, neither of the brothers talked. Each was consumed in their own raging thoughts: they were finally going to prove to Danville, to the world, that they were innocent.

However, when they reached the lobby and they saw one guard facing them, aiming a machine gun at their heads, they burst into laughter.

Flustered, the guard stammered, "G-give it up, boys! It's the end of the line."

"You're right," Phineas grinned. "We finally made it to the finish line."

"And we're in first place," Ferb added, chuckling.

"That's not what I meant," the guard said, sounding a little hurt.

"We know," Phineas replied sympathetically, noticing the guard's nametag._ Lewis, _it read. "We know what it's like, Lewis, when people don't understand you."

"I know," Lewis cried. "All my life, I've been a nobody. I lost my first job, and with it, my wife. After that, to pay off bills, I had to become a security guard—"

"Alright, Phin," Ferb laughed. "Enough chitchat. Let's go show the world who's right."

They approached Lewis, and his eyes widened as they passed right through him

"W-what the…" Lewis shuddered. He stared at the boys. "How… how did you…?"

"It's a trade secret," Phineas said, smiling. They faced the door to the security hall and walked through onto the outside steps. As they did so, the guards had appeared at the elevator.

"Get them!" one cried, and they all charged. But the brothers slipped through the door, and Phineas pulled out the remaining two panels with purple and blue buttons respectively, pressing both. Gears of the doors' locks whirred, trapping the guards inside, and inside the building the sound of crackling electricity popped through the air. Flashes of light could be seen from the light fixtures on the ceiling of City Hall, shocking guards and knocking them unconscious.

As the boys had emerged from inside the building, the angry crowd outside moved as one and almost broke through the ranks of the police officers staving them off. The crowd's irate yells, however, turned into screams of panic as the S.W.A.T. team surrounding the entrance to City Hall opened fire.

Phineas grinned at his brother, the image of his face wavy with the force of the bullets ripping through it. "Think you can handle another speech?" he asked.

Ferb scoffed, which prompted a laugh from Phineas. Ferb stood on top of the machine and, shouting above the din, he cried, "People of Danville! You have been misguided for too long!"

Realizing the futility of shooting precious ammunition at the boys, the S.W.A.T. team halted their fire. The crowd likewise discontinued their manic shouts to better hear what the 14-year-old brothers who had caused so much trouble had to say for themselves.

"For days, we have been criminals of murderous intent in your eyes. For days, you have presumed us as the builders and creators of a monstrosity: the very invention I am standing on!" Ferb shouted, gesturing to his feet.

"That's right!" one brave person yelled, and suddenly, the once-quiet mob burst into a raucous uproar, reaffirming a thousand-fold the proclamation that Phineas and Ferb were bent on being killers.

"Silence!" Ferb bellowed. Everyone immediately stopped talking; no one had ever heard Ferb, let alone anyone, bellow, and the effect was magnificent. "Good people of Danville, tonight I would like _you _to be the judges of our fate. I, Ferb Fletcher, present to you our first and only piece of evidence necessary: Exhibit A. The invention we prepared for the Founding of Danville's 200th Anniversary.

"We have not tampered with this machine; a simple check with the security cameras inside City Hall at a later time will endorse this statement's truth. So as hard as it may be, I implore you: give us the benefit of the doubt _for once._ And let me and my brother prove—"

* * *

Isabella led the group right up to the front of the crowd, directly in front of the entrance. Thaddeus couldn't help but chuckle at Isabella's sheer, and almost pathetic determination to see her crush again. But other matters swiftly clouded his mind. As he pushed his way through to stand next to Isabella, he realized that they had a perfect view of the doorway where an untouchable Phineas and Ferb now stood. He saw Ferb begin his speech and gesture at the box he was standing on. It took a few seconds, but with a sinking feeling he eventually recognized the box as the invention from the day of the Anniversary.

_They must not turn on that invention, _he thought fiercely, attempting to jump over the barricade and run to the boys. But before he even had both of his legs over the fence, he felt strong hands clamp on his shoulder and toss his over to where he started. He was dimly aware of Isabella, Stacy, Katie, and Ginger screaming behind him.

"No can do, kiddo," the police officer who had pushed him back snapped condescendingly. "No one goes past this fence."

"I need to go up there," Thaddeus seethed. He felt Isabella grab his arm, but he shook it away.

_No, _he screamed to himself inside. _They cannot turn on the invention! They must be stopped! I cannot fail my mission!_

He stared defiantly at Phineas and Ferb, briefly noticing that Ferb was brandishing a spherical object in his hand.

"Don't act crazy, Thaddeus," Isabella pleaded. "Why on earth would you want to run into range of all of those guns?"

"Yeah, kid," the officer said smugly. "Listen to your little girlfriend."

Thaddeus almost bristled at the patronizing comment, but their words struck him, and suddenly he had a plan.

_Range._

_Girlfriend._

He smiled.

"Sorry, officer. Don't know what got over me," he said nonchalantly, backing up but still in the front of the crowd. He put up his hands defensively. "Didn't mean to cause any trouble."

"I got my eye on you," the officer warned, moving away. Thaddeus could now see Phineas in plain sight, no trouble. _Which meant that Phineas could see him…_

He wheeled and faced Isabella, his face suddenly contorting with desperation. Startled, she jumped as he grabbed her shoulders. "Isabella, if I did something completely crazy, right now, would you kill me?" he said.

"I mean, you did just try to do something crazy now," she replied drily, regaining her composure. "Though I did want to strangle you a bit, I wouldn't go so far as to say I'd want to kill you."

"Good," he whispered. Pressing the back to her head with one hand and caressing her cheek with the other, he kissed her.

* * *

"And let me and my brother prove—Phineas?"

Phineas heard his brother call his name, but it barely registered. _Phineas? What that even his name? What was a name?_

_And why is Thaddeus _kissing _Isabella?!_

Phineas took another step forward, almost involuntarily. He felt a sort of magnetic pull between the scene unfolding before him, and the rage slowly bubbling in his gut. They were opposite forces. They attracted each other. Phineas had no choice but to obey the primeval call.

He took another step forward.

"Phineas, you have to stop," Ferb said, his eyes warily scanning the line of S.W.A.T. team soldiers around them. "You're very close to being out of the range of the phasing machine."

Phineas was aware of Ferb saying something, but through the din roaring in his ears, it might as well have been mashed-up gibberish. His vision tunneled into a long, dark tube. At the end of the tunnel, however, there was no light. There was only the image of Thaddeus and Isabella. Kissing.

_I thought I could count on her…_

He took another step forward.

"Phineas!" Ferb said, rushing forth and grabbing his arm; Phineas retaliated harshly, whipping it away and smacking Ferb in the process. Ferb was sent back sprawling from the force of the impact.

Phineas took another step forward.

That was when Isabella broke free of Thaddeus' passionate embrace. She looked up wildly and caught Phineas' intense glare. "Phineas?" she said in horror, backing away from Thaddeus and hastily wiping her mouth.

"Isabella," he breathed, his anger dissolving in an instant. "You came, when I needed you…"

He took one final step forward, which put just enough distance between him and the phasing machine to be out of its influence. Then, time seemed to slow down as many things happened at once.

The window shattered as Lewis the security guard, unscathed and untouched by Phineas' Tasers, jumped through and rolled to the edge of the stairs. He popped up and hurled a glowing stick at Phineas. On impact, the stick arced with electricity, and with a jolt, Phineas collapsed. Isabella let out a scream as the S.W.A.T. team converged on Phineas, who was now definitely tangible. Ferb stared in horror at the sudden horrific turn of events. In a flash, he jumped off the invention and ran through the crowd, easily sprinting through them with the phasing machine and disappearing into the night.

Isabella watched in horror as the S.W.A.T. team handcuffed the barely conscious Phineas and carried him into a police car. The siren wailed as the car quickly sped away.

Realizing that she had lost Phineas again, she broke down into tears. Sobbing, she pressed herself against Thaddeus' chest, leaning on him for support as her shoulders quaked from the force of her crying. Thaddeus patted her on the back, but he couldn't keep back a shadowy smile as he watched the blinking police car siren fade into the dark.

* * *

Sorry for the delay, guys. I really am. But as you can see, it's a big update. I was at first debating whether or not to split his chapter up, but then I realized that it didn't really flow if I were to split up the events in the chapter. So forgive the late update.

**ThatRandomGuy99 - **Looks like he did do something...

**cambalopales - **Thank you! Glad you caught onto the subtleties.

**Hyper-Blossom Z - **I don't think he was going crazy. He was just overwhelmed by emotion.

**Dreadwing216 - **Oh, they'll get their moment.

**Yarthayaj'knaushtavdhladleklwa - **1. can't say, keep reading. 2. No 3. No

**Marissa Flynn - **Haha. I think Phineas is going to do a lot more than punch Thaddeus when he finds out he's behind everything...

**irresistiblecookie - **Yes, Thaddeus and Thor are bad. But it sure seems like they're good sometimes...


	12. Awkward Conversations

_The next morning…_

"Ugh. Ughhh. Ughhhhhh," Doof groaned. "Where am I?"

He squinted at the beautiful sunrise coming up over the buildings in downtown Danville. "It's already morning? And I'm so tired still. Wait a second…"

He turned onto his back. "Where did my ceiling go?" he asked.

Doof turned over to sit up and promptly splashed into the fountain in the middle of Danville Plaza.

"Ack! Water in my nose! …and possibly my brain now. Ack! Bppbbpbp!" he shrieked, flailing in the water. Early-morning joggers glanced at him and sped up to avoid being near him.

After a minute of flapping about and proclaiming that he was going to drown, Doof finally realized that the fountain was only a foot deep. Embarrassed, he climbed out as calmly as he could.

"How on earth did I get to the middle of Danville Plaza?" he wondered aloud.

Next to him, his phone, which had slipped out of his pocket before Doof fell in the water, spurted out a broken melody of "_My whole world is this screen, just four walls of a rectangle…"_

Wiping his hand on the concrete in a desperate attempt to dry it off, he unlocked his phone screen and held it up to his ear. "Hello?"

"Heinz? Where have you been? Why haven't you been answering my calls?" declared a gruff voice on the other end.

"Francis Monogram! Good to hear from you," Doof crowed. "I mean, good to an extent, of course. You do send agents to foil my plans and ruin my dreams, but water under the bridge."

"And why do you sound like you've been splashing around in a public pool?" Monogram asked suspiciously.

"Wow, you are perceptive this morning. How did you guess?" Doof said as he leaned back, forgetting that he wasn't sitting in a chair. He fell into the fountain again.

"Never mind," Monogram dismissed the question and the subsequent splash. "But where have you been?"

"What do you mean, where have I been?" Doof said, laughing. "I just woke up after a good night's rest! Granted, I did somehow manage to sleepwalk out of my building and travel all the way to downtown Danville, but I sure needed that rest after the Anniversary Show! Man, wasn't that day fun?"

Monogram was silent for a moment, then spoke. "We need to talk."

* * *

"_Who _got _what?"_ Doof asked, his mouth hanging open with an enormous half-chewed bite of coffee cake for the entire world to see.

The two had met in a small classy coffee shop in the heart of the city. Light jazz tumbled out of the building and a cool breeze swept down the alley and into the huge open window where Monogram and Doof were sitting. The shop was one of Monogram's favorite places to enjoy a light breakfast before the day started, and he was on good terms with many of the locals. He also realized that bringing Doofenshmirtz there was a mistake.

"Shut your mouth, Heinz!" Monogram scolded, blowing on a porcelain mug of Earl Grey. "A dozen people were shot on July 9 after an invention created by a certain Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher malfunctioned, big-time."

"But… but… that's just not possible! I was there just yesterday! No one was shot!" Doof protested in a flustered voice.

"That's the other thing, Heinz. Take a look at this morning's paper." Monogram handed Doof the new issue of _The Daily Danville, _which Doof inspected closely.

After a few seconds of reading, Doof mused, "Wow, stock market values for Meap's Carbonated Goulash have really skyrocketed. Now that's good investing."

"Oh for Pete's sake! Heinz, look at the date!" Monogram shouted.

Doof glanced at the top corner. Printed in small letters and numbers was _July 13, 2014._

"It's already the thirteenth? But… what happened to ten through twelve?" Doof asked in a hurt voice. "Did we skip them?"

"That's just it; we don't know," Monogram said, pulling out a thin manila folder from his briefcase. "We suspect you may have been drugged, possibly with a sleeping agent meant to deal permanent damage. But due to your, ahem… mental resilience—"

"You mean… my… evil genius?" Doof grinned.

"Don't push it. You somehow managed to wake up and survive the shockingly large dosage of the agent it must have taken to render you unconscious for a week. Further investigation will be necessary to ensure your condition free of abnormalities. Though, from your behavior during this meeting…" Monogram said.

"Yes! I am awesome! I can live through anything! _I will survive,_" Doof sang as he stood up and started to sing with a chocolate pastry substituting for the microphone.

"…it seems as though your condition is perfectly normal," Monogram ended drily. He pushed the manila folder towards Doof. On the front cover was the word "CONFIDENTIAL" in bright red ink.

"Ooh, is this a super-top secret government document for a mystery?" Doof asked excitedly. He inched his finger towards the folder. "Can I touch it?"

"You can read it," Monogram said with an exasperated sigh. "That is, if you can read."

"Ouch," said Doof sarcastically, picking up the folder. "What is this, anyway?"

"After the shooting, your nemesis, Agent Perry the Platypus, was distraught by the disappearance of Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher. We don't have the credentials to know where this strong emotional backlash came from, but since the shooting he has declared himself to be retired and has withdrawn from the agency. Heinz Doofenshmirtz—"

"_Doctor_ Heinz Doofenshmirtz," Doof added snarkily. Monogram ignored him.

"You are no longer with a nemesis. As we have no more agents or resources at our disposal, you will now be transferred such that you are under scrutiny of another division of—"

"Perry the Platypus… is gone?" Doof interrupted. He pronounced each word slowly, as though he was having trouble understanding their meaning together.

"That's what I just said," Monogram said exasperatedly, glancing at his watch. He had another meeting in fifteen minutes…

"No more schemes? No more thwarting? No more 'Curse you, Perry the Platypus'?" Doof mumbled, his eyes brimming with tears. "Just like that?"

"I'm afraid so," Monogram said. Immediately, Doof started bawling, drawing the attention of the people from five or six tables around them.

"Heinz. Heinz! Put yourself together!" Monogram whispered fiercely, shooting apologetic looks at the customers around him as he shook Doof's shoulders. "That's why I'm here, meeting with you right now."

"I'm sorry," Doof blubbered. "I can't… I need to eat something. No, no, drink." He signaled the server, who was trying to avoid Doof's eye contact. "Waiter, get me two shots of espresso, please."

Monogram let out a huge sigh. "Heinz, you need to try and remember what happened on the day of the Anniversary. It's our only lead into this case. The only way we can bring Agent P back is if we can prove the two boys to be innocent."

"But they shot the mayor," Doof pointed out. "You said so yourself."

"I said no such thing," Monogram countered quickly. "I said that the mayor was shot when the boys' invention malfunctioned. They say that somehow the boys managed to conjure a real man and real bullets out of nothing."

"I could do that," said Doof. Catching Monogram's wide-eyed glare, he was quick to add, "Not that I would."

"Admit it, Heinz, it's crazy. I can't fathom how the boys would be guilty for such a preposterous crime," Monogram continued. "But there are no more leads. The invention from the Anniversary was destroyed last night by a mob. One of the boys is in incarceration, while the other is gone. We have nothing left, except you. This is the only way to get Agent P back."

"I'm sorry, Francis," Doof cried, "but I got nothing. The last thing I remember from that day is blasting out of my apartment on my jetpack. Then it's all black until just this morning."

They suddenly noticed the waiter standing nervously behind them. Monogram gave an embarrassed cough.

"You're paying for that," Monogram muttered as the waiter casually placed a tray with two shots of espresso in front of Doof and hurried away from the crying mess in front of Monogram. Doof lost no time in downing an espresso, sighing with content.

"Ah, now I feel much better," he murmured happily. Then, as though a jolt of electricity passed through him, he sat straight up.

"What's wrong?" Monogram asked, noting Doof's pained expression with alarm. Doof did not answer, but continued to stare at the wall. He grasped his hair and, groaning, laid his head on the table.

"Heinz! What happened?" Monogram shouted, disregarding all of the customers giving him dirty looks. He knelt beside Doof and helped him back into a sitting position.

"Someone call an ambulance!" he shouted into the shop.

"No, don't do that," Doof mumbled. "We need to get to a grocery store. Now."

"Oh no, it's the effects of the drug you received four days ago," Monogram fretted, rubbing his mustache in agitation. "They're starting to kick in."

"No," Doof said, his sudden calm surprising Monogram. Doof stared at him intensely. "I'm starting to remember what happened on that day."

Monogram stood up abruptly and punched in some numbers into his phone. "Carl? Tell Director Dipthong I'm going to have to cancel today. I have something more important to do. We're going to bring back Agent P."

Ending the call, Monogram held out his hand to Doof. Doof grinned and grasped the hand, and they shook.

"For Agent P," Monogram said solemnly.

"For Perry the Platypus," Doof agreed. He gulped down the other shot of espresso.

* * *

_Third Person POV of Phineas' Thoughts_

A phone call.

Phineas stared at the phone. He could not touch it; the police had taken away his mobility when they handcuffed him. He could only sit and stare.

Any phone call he wanted. As many as he wanted. All he needed to do was tell them who and what number, and he would be on the line with them to plead for innocence or money to bail him out.

_Oh, that's right,_ he thought bitterly. _No one would ever bail me out._

His parents were out of the question. He knew that they were remorseful at having thrown their own children aside, but he was still angry with them, and to be perfectly honest, he didn't trust them. In any case, he felt as though meeting with his parents without Ferb would somehow be cheating his brother.

Candace? Pffft. She was in a hospital and in no condition to walk. Besides, she probably didn't want to see him anyway. Phineas remembered that Ferb had said they made up, but at the moment, he wasn't feeling like trusting anyone. Especially with his future on the line.

Baljeet was probably still in Vegas. What a jerk.

Buford? Who knew where he was.

The Fireside Girls were definitely still furious at him.

Which left…

Isabella.

Phineas shook his head groggily, trying to recall the moments from the night before. They had brought him here and asked him a lot of questions. He was always handcuffed. Before that, he remembered vague blotches of light as he drifted in and out of consciousness. And before that…

His pulse quickened as the image of Thaddeus and Isabella locked in a kiss passed through his mind's eye. He couldn't understand why the image made him so angry. Sure, it was weird that Isabella was suddenly having intimate physical contact with a guy she hadn't seen for three years who was also a jerk. It was at the very least slightly illogical. Through the years, though, Phineas had gotten pretty used to weird and illogical things happening in his life.

_So why is this making me feel like I want to punch something?_

He tried to reason with himself. At least Isabella was still there that night. Evelyn was right; she was there when he needed her most.

But something felt so wrong whenever he thought about the two. It wasn't just a vague perception that the facts did not match up with the reality. No, it was something much stronger than that. A deep, inner voice screaming at him that seeing her with someone else was _not okay…_

Phineas sat up straight and almost laughed at himself. He would have, had he not felt so weak from the Taser shock. _Of course Isabella being with another guy is okay! _he responded to himself jovially. _She hangs out with me and Ferb and Baljeet and Buford all the time._

_Well, most of that time _is _spent with you_, he thought back. _It's not like Baljeet and Isabella started spending time alone together. Or kissing each other._

Phineas shook his head again, like a dog trying to flick away flies. He couldn't believe how commanding and disgusting he was sounding. "_Isabella can't be with another guy"? Really Phineas?_ he berated himself. _You would stoop that low to be so controlling? She's not an object. She's not someone's property. It's her choice who she wants to be with._

However, despite having reconciled with himself, Phineas had a heavy heart as pressed the button on his chair to signal the police officials he was ready to make his call. He knew whom he wanted and needed to call with all his heart. He just wasn't sure that she would want to speak to him.

* * *

_Third Person POV of Isabella's Thoughts_

Isabella stared morosely at the worn-down carpet in her room. Lately, because of all the pacing she had been doing, it was starting to become threadbare.

But she couldn't prevent the pacing, nor the emotions tumbling around inside of her that were spurring her frenzied pacing in the first place.

She knew she should go visit him while the police were holding him and the court case was being scheduled. He would be lonely; for all she knew, no one would visit him and he wouldn't be able to see a single friendly face while going through this ordeal. She knew in her heart that he was innocent, and though she had been overwhelmed with shock at the events from last night, she had seen the absolute relief and joy etched on his face when Phineas had spotted her in the crowd right before he was knocked unconscious. Before he had seen her kissing Thaddeus.

Unconsciously, she started to shake her head vigorously, like a dog. Why was love so complicated? The only thing on her mind that night was getting to see and speak with Phineas. So when Thaddeus had smashed his face against hers, she almost couldn't believe her bad luck.

But was it bad luck? She couldn't bring herself to say that she was in love with Phineas anymore. Just the thought of his name unplugged a river of bittersweet memories from before the Anniversary and painful ones after he had pretended like the letter he wrote to her was nothing, and she couldn't contend with the possibility that someone who caused her so much pain could be someone she loved so much.

Thaddeus was a different story. He had shown up in the middle of her crisis. He had made her forget for a moment that her life was in shambles. He had helped her up on one knee after life had smacked her down and she faceplanted into the ground. And with his new haircut and clothing style and without his glasses, he _was _cute, triangle-head aside. If she was completely honest with herself, Isabella knew that she and Phineas couldn't be together until he somehow convinced everyone that he was innocent, which seemed like a more impossible prospect with every passing day. And she was starting to feel some sort of attraction towards Thaddeus, as foreign as the concept seemed.

However, there were still some lingering feelings for the bright, redheaded inventor she had spent much of the last four years with, and she couldn't manage to put them down completely. The thoughts crowded her mind so much that her head pounded. So she resorted to pacing.

So deeply lost in thought she was that when her phone rang, she leaped into the air and almost broke her nightstand. Noticing the unknown caller ID, she hesitantly accepted the call. "Hello?" she asked tensely. A very audible sigh echoed on the other end.

"Isabella, it's me," a familiar but very tired voice said. The volume was small, but the emotional impact of hearing Phineas almost bowled her over. Speechless, she alternated between caressing the phone in her ear, trying to hear any other sounds from Phineas' end, and holding out the phone from her body as though it were a poisonous creature.

"Isabella?" the voice asked again, completely deadpan. It was as though Phineas had expected her to hang up as soon as she realized it was he. She knew she had to say something before Phineas hung up.

"Oh god," was all she could manage. She silently cursed herself. _Oh god? _she thought bitterly. _Seriously?_

"It's… it's good to finally talk to you," Phineas said, a bit of color flooding back into his voice. His voice cracked with emotion. "It's really good. It's great."

"Where are you?" she asked, her voice still tense.

"They're holding me at the Penitentiary," came his response. "I'm just waiting in a cell before the court hearing tomorrow."

"A cell?" she repeated, horrified. She could not imagine him setting even one foot inside such a gray place devoid of creativity.

"Yeah," he said. She could hear him smiling slightly on the other end. "Funny, right? Probably one of the last places I thought I'd ever be, and here I am, not even a full adult and in jail. It's so gray and boring here."

"I was just thinking the same thing!" Isabella said, a note of excitement rising in her voice as her instinct to always agree with Phineas bubbled up. "You'd never go there. No color and no creativity."

"Yeah," he said, "And it's lonelier without anyone coming to visit."

Isabella suddenly froze at his words.

Phineas' voice suddenly turned soft and plaintive. "Isabella, please," he implored.

Isabella remained silent.

"Look, whatever I did to you, I'm really sorry," he pleaded. "But just imagine that loneliness and pain you had before, except worse, and imagine that you have no one to talk to or depend on. That's what I'm feeling right now, Isabella. Please. Just think about what the right thing to do is."

She sighed as quietly as she could. She didn't want him to know that she was giving in to him and let him off the hook just yet, but she knew deep down that her answer was always yes, she would go visit him. A thousand times over and over. She wouldn't do something as terrible as refuse him, even if he might have done so to her.

"I'll be there," she finally said with as little emotion as she manage. In actuality, she was feeling tidal waves of excitement, guilt, apprehension, and downright disgust. She was pleased to hear her voice come out clearly and steadily, and even more pleased to hear Phineas' unbridled delight on the other end.

"Oh, Isabella," he breathed giddily, his words tumbling out one after the other like a waterfall. "Thank you so much, you don't know how much this means to me, you mean so much to me, thank you so much, thank you—"

"You don't need to thank me," she said, a bit harsher than she meant to; she forged on nonetheless. "I'll be there today."

Then she hung up and flopped down on her bed, exhausted.

* * *

"Mitch, what's the status with the clothes?" Evelyn asked as she paced in the underground homeless main hall.

"Ian should be back with them soon," Mitch, a heavyset man with a short mustache, sputtered. "And he'll bring keys too. Son of a bitch has a frickin' silver tongue and fingers like weasels."

"Good," she said, staring hard into the tunnel that led to the downtown Danville. "It's almost time."

"Time to do what, Echo?" Mitch asked. Evelyn flinched at her old name, but instantaneously regained her hardened gaze.

"Time to break Phineas out."

* * *

Well, there it is! As the year gets busier, I'll do my best to update regularly, because I love the story. But it may or may not be as frequent.

Also, thank you for the many reviews! They mean a lot to me; they really do. Please continue to review!

**TheRedA - **Yes, the story does cross over many genres. But the two main ones are mystery and romance, and possibly action. Hope you like it!

**A - **Glad you like the story's action!

**ThatRandomGuy99 - **Yes, we're finally getting to see Thaddeus' true colors as not only a mean person but a manipulating one as well.

**mirrorsfuxk - **That's what I was going for, and I'm glad the chapter made you feel an adrenaline rush!

**The-Snowy-Owl13 - **Well, it's called "the Fall and the Rise" for a reason. Gotta fall before you get back up.

**Dreadwing216 - **I don't think their punishment will be that light...

**MasterDuelistMichael - **Isabella doesn't currently know that Thaddeus is evil. No one does (though Phineas does think he is in the sense that he kissed Isabella, and for some reason this disturbed him to the point of thinking he was bad). Thaddeus and Thor are hiding their motives.

**UnlikelyPFfan - **She doesn't know that Thaddeus is evil. She likes Thaddeus because to her, he seems like a great, supportive, good-looking guy.

**Hyper-Blossom Z - **Glad you like it! We'll definitely see some of your questions answered.

**irresistiblecookie - **Yes. You don't think I'd let PnF off the hook that easily, do you?


	13. PLEASE READ (9-13-14)

Dear and faithful readers,

I apologize for the lack of updates in the recent past. I have been going through a very tough time, as a very close friend of mine has contracted a serious, long-term disease which has the potential to turn life-threatening. It's been very stressful and time-consuming to juggle both college applications and the emotional burden of my friend's condition. Thus, with much regret, I will put this story on hiatus until one of the two afflictions are relieved from me; the responsibility of producing quality writing is a little too much to bear at this moment. I hope you all will forgive me and wish a speedy recovery for my friend.

Many thanks for your good thoughts and patience, dear and faithful readers, and I hope to see you again in the near future.

-storyman123123


End file.
